¡Hola!
What a week- the biggest change is that I´m in the office now (hence the subject line, I hope that some of you get it...) and working very hard. I spend most of the day processing papers and phone calls, and generally helping out- then in the evenings we go out and proselyte. The sector that I´m in now is Los Olivos (The Olive Trees), and we are literally right at the foot of a hill called Cerro Blanca (White Hill). We spend most of our walking time climbing or descending stairs (pictures next week, don´t have much time), and it´s a blast to be in a sector that is at once advanced and modern and yet has much of the "traditional" or "antiguo" flavor that you think of when you think South America (again, you´ll understand better with pictures next week).
My health has begun steadily improving with the change of pace, and it´s nice to be finally adjusting to the language. Yesterday I had four Chileans (and one of my companions) note that my accent didn´t sound like a gringo (YESSSSSS!!!!) and I noted that I was using many Chilenismos correctly and naturally. The ward here is very weak, and we´re beginning to work with the various members to strengthen and reinforce the leadership and relationships here. I know that with time it will work out, and I think that I can help out a little bit by helping us get out the door on time to proselyte.
We live on the 15th floor of an apartment building overlooking a little bit of the valley (Mish!) and I am very grateful for a novelty that we have here that we didn´t have in my last apartment- a shower that I can stand up in! I´ll send a picture of that next week too. It´s also fun to have a car to drive around the city in while we´re working in the office, so I´m starting to become more familiar with everything, and where it is geographically.
I know it´s a little short this week, but I´ll send a ton of pictures next week. Thank you all for your prayers and love and support! I sort the mail for the whole mission every day, so send me some and I´ll get it in real time and not on the delay!
Mucho amor,
-Elder Wheelhouse
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
The first week of the 50th year of a Chilean Mission!
¡Alo!
What an interesting week! I was sick for two more days this week (not much fun, but we work with it), but we have had a lot of good things too.
I forgot to mention in my last letter that we had a celebration for 50 years of the Mision Chilena! There had been missionaries in Chile before that, but it was merely part of another mission. It was very exciting to view the work that has been done in so short a time. A stadium in downtown Chile was filled completely with members and investigators, and after a brief devotional with the area presidency we got to see quite the show! Traditional dances from all over South America, depictions of various scenes from the book of mormon and historical highlights, and a spectacular choir composed of members from all over chile and over 600 missionaries (maybe more, I was in front). Overall, a lot of fun!
We´ve also had two Seventies visit this week, one from the Area Presidency(Elder Zeballos, to talk to the missionaries in our zone) and Elder Richards (for stake conference). We also will be meeting as a mission with another seventy, a member of the presiding bishopric, and an apostle in a meeting on the sixth, which we are all excited and preparing for.
We´ve been working with various families and people this week, and it has been wonderful to watch the growth happen. Much of our hard work paid off when we received a text at 11 at night from a contact/investigator asking what happens to a sinner if they die in their sins. After a brief conversation with her, we have one more person who is progressing towards baptism.
We have also been working very hard with the barrio here to reactivate more members and help them become more effective in their leadership positions. They just called four new ward missionaries to help us (for a total of 8 now!) and we have implemented some new programs with them to train them in how to teach and reactivate members on their own. We will be doing splits more often and assigning specific investigators and tasks to ward missionaries, meaning that we´ll basically have 4 companionships actively working in the ward at any given time. Overall, a wonderful time to be working.
Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. They are greatly appreciated and needed.
Off to a haircut!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Side note: We´ve started teaching some of the Flaite (FLY-tay, the ´gangsters´ of Santiago) various words in English, and they´ve started being a lot more friendly. Useful, when you´re out late and trying to get home on time!
Alma 26:11-16
What an interesting week! I was sick for two more days this week (not much fun, but we work with it), but we have had a lot of good things too.
I forgot to mention in my last letter that we had a celebration for 50 years of the Mision Chilena! There had been missionaries in Chile before that, but it was merely part of another mission. It was very exciting to view the work that has been done in so short a time. A stadium in downtown Chile was filled completely with members and investigators, and after a brief devotional with the area presidency we got to see quite the show! Traditional dances from all over South America, depictions of various scenes from the book of mormon and historical highlights, and a spectacular choir composed of members from all over chile and over 600 missionaries (maybe more, I was in front). Overall, a lot of fun!
We´ve also had two Seventies visit this week, one from the Area Presidency(Elder Zeballos, to talk to the missionaries in our zone) and Elder Richards (for stake conference). We also will be meeting as a mission with another seventy, a member of the presiding bishopric, and an apostle in a meeting on the sixth, which we are all excited and preparing for.
We´ve been working with various families and people this week, and it has been wonderful to watch the growth happen. Much of our hard work paid off when we received a text at 11 at night from a contact/investigator asking what happens to a sinner if they die in their sins. After a brief conversation with her, we have one more person who is progressing towards baptism.
We have also been working very hard with the barrio here to reactivate more members and help them become more effective in their leadership positions. They just called four new ward missionaries to help us (for a total of 8 now!) and we have implemented some new programs with them to train them in how to teach and reactivate members on their own. We will be doing splits more often and assigning specific investigators and tasks to ward missionaries, meaning that we´ll basically have 4 companionships actively working in the ward at any given time. Overall, a wonderful time to be working.
Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. They are greatly appreciated and needed.
Off to a haircut!
-Elder Wheelhouse
Side note: We´ve started teaching some of the Flaite (FLY-tay, the ´gangsters´ of Santiago) various words in English, and they´ve started being a lot more friendly. Useful, when you´re out late and trying to get home on time!
Alma 26:11-16
Monday, October 17, 2011
Work on both sides of the veil
Hello all!
First, I´ll finish where I left off last week and transition smoothly into current news. Primeramente, last week the Uncle and Aunt of Elder Dearden (who are economists) came to Chile for a conference. They were guests of the Ex-minister of Chile, and they ended up meeting up with him at the Chapel of all places. I, of course, had no clue that he was anyone of supreme importance until one of the youth, a good friend of mine, pulled me aside and started asking how I knew him and if I could "hook him up" (and by this I obviously mean the Chileanismo equivalent). Elder Dearden´s aunt wrote him and said that the Ex-minister´s impressions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was favorable, and that he was impressed with our dedication and sacrifice as misionaries, and touched by my testimony (conveniently given while I was blissfully ignorant to what was going on, because afterward the stakes obviously changed). So that was exciting.
Lorena´s baptism was excellent. A muy linda event. I hope that the pictures I sent last week got through. If not, let me know. All of her family suddenly showed up in town the week following, unannounced, and her son (non-member) is now living with her. We have begun to train her on how to teach, and we were particularly excited for her confirmation yesterday. We see a very bright future with her.
Also this week, I lost two very dear friends of mine to mission calls on the other side of the veil. One, who I believe I have mentioned, se llamo Emilio, and the other was a Young Man of our barrio, who I was only able to visit once.
The young man whom I visited in the hospital was sick with Lukemia. The bishop heard about my story with my health before my mission, and asked me to come visit him and bear my testimony. He had lost hope in serving a mission when he became hospitalized, and began to retreat from friends, family, and the church. We went and visited him, blessing and administering the sacrament. Only the bishop and I were allowed in the room because of the fragile state of the patients there, but in the little spanish I knew I began to bear a testimony. Suddenly the Spirit took over and I began to bear what I believe to be the strongest, most fluent testimony that I have ever given in Spanish, and our eyes met. We stayed locked for 3 or 5 minutes as I promised him that if he wanted to serve a mission with all his heart, with the desire to serve God more than himself, and if he began to prepare that he would have the opportunity to serve and bless many lives. We saw a change in his eyes, a fire that was not there before, and he has gone on to serve faithfully in his new calling.
Emilio was a blind diabetic with one foot amputated that we found in the street one day, who was inactive in the church for almost a decade. He had come to terms with the cause of his problems, realizing that many of them stemmed from his disobedience to the principles he knew, and had the desire to change his life and rejoin the church. We worked with him for 3 or 4 weeks, and he faithfully attended church and changed his life to what it was supposed to be. He wanted to serve a mission, but was unable to because of his age. The last contact that we had with him before he entered the hospital, we were working on getting him a calling as a ward missionary. He suddenly took sick and died a day later in the hospital, prepared to teach what he had so valiantly regained. The change that we saw in him was ENORMOUS. Where he was sullen and depressed, even angry at life when we met him, when his girlfriend left him two days before our last visit we visited with him and he laughed about it, secure in his knowledge and testimony. He accompanied us to various appointments, learning to bear powerful testimony and lift the lives of other people. He was my friend, and I will miss him dearly.
These two men, frail and sickly and alone in the eyes of the world, are a powerful witness to the divine nature of this gospel. By their faith and through their righteous desires they changed their lives and mine. They will be changing many more in the next world. They took my testimony to the grave- and I would be ungrateful if I did not do the same. I testify that there is a plan. I Promise because I know for myself that this life is more than coincidence and fate, a combination of luck and probability. We are the Sons and Daughters of the Creator of the universe, and if we will do our part and receive the blessings that he offers us, we will receive this witness every day. I mourn the loss of two valiant friends for a time- but I know that I will see them again, in the flesh, and that the infirmities that took them out of this life will be gone forever because of YOUR Savior, Jesus Christ.
I love this work. I love this Gospel. I know that we can be with our families forever, IF we do our part.
I leave this week bearing testimony of these truths as a representative of Christ and in His name.
First, I´ll finish where I left off last week and transition smoothly into current news. Primeramente, last week the Uncle and Aunt of Elder Dearden (who are economists) came to Chile for a conference. They were guests of the Ex-minister of Chile, and they ended up meeting up with him at the Chapel of all places. I, of course, had no clue that he was anyone of supreme importance until one of the youth, a good friend of mine, pulled me aside and started asking how I knew him and if I could "hook him up" (and by this I obviously mean the Chileanismo equivalent). Elder Dearden´s aunt wrote him and said that the Ex-minister´s impressions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was favorable, and that he was impressed with our dedication and sacrifice as misionaries, and touched by my testimony (conveniently given while I was blissfully ignorant to what was going on, because afterward the stakes obviously changed). So that was exciting.
Lorena´s baptism was excellent. A muy linda event. I hope that the pictures I sent last week got through. If not, let me know. All of her family suddenly showed up in town the week following, unannounced, and her son (non-member) is now living with her. We have begun to train her on how to teach, and we were particularly excited for her confirmation yesterday. We see a very bright future with her.
Also this week, I lost two very dear friends of mine to mission calls on the other side of the veil. One, who I believe I have mentioned, se llamo Emilio, and the other was a Young Man of our barrio, who I was only able to visit once.
The young man whom I visited in the hospital was sick with Lukemia. The bishop heard about my story with my health before my mission, and asked me to come visit him and bear my testimony. He had lost hope in serving a mission when he became hospitalized, and began to retreat from friends, family, and the church. We went and visited him, blessing and administering the sacrament. Only the bishop and I were allowed in the room because of the fragile state of the patients there, but in the little spanish I knew I began to bear a testimony. Suddenly the Spirit took over and I began to bear what I believe to be the strongest, most fluent testimony that I have ever given in Spanish, and our eyes met. We stayed locked for 3 or 5 minutes as I promised him that if he wanted to serve a mission with all his heart, with the desire to serve God more than himself, and if he began to prepare that he would have the opportunity to serve and bless many lives. We saw a change in his eyes, a fire that was not there before, and he has gone on to serve faithfully in his new calling.
Emilio was a blind diabetic with one foot amputated that we found in the street one day, who was inactive in the church for almost a decade. He had come to terms with the cause of his problems, realizing that many of them stemmed from his disobedience to the principles he knew, and had the desire to change his life and rejoin the church. We worked with him for 3 or 4 weeks, and he faithfully attended church and changed his life to what it was supposed to be. He wanted to serve a mission, but was unable to because of his age. The last contact that we had with him before he entered the hospital, we were working on getting him a calling as a ward missionary. He suddenly took sick and died a day later in the hospital, prepared to teach what he had so valiantly regained. The change that we saw in him was ENORMOUS. Where he was sullen and depressed, even angry at life when we met him, when his girlfriend left him two days before our last visit we visited with him and he laughed about it, secure in his knowledge and testimony. He accompanied us to various appointments, learning to bear powerful testimony and lift the lives of other people. He was my friend, and I will miss him dearly.
These two men, frail and sickly and alone in the eyes of the world, are a powerful witness to the divine nature of this gospel. By their faith and through their righteous desires they changed their lives and mine. They will be changing many more in the next world. They took my testimony to the grave- and I would be ungrateful if I did not do the same. I testify that there is a plan. I Promise because I know for myself that this life is more than coincidence and fate, a combination of luck and probability. We are the Sons and Daughters of the Creator of the universe, and if we will do our part and receive the blessings that he offers us, we will receive this witness every day. I mourn the loss of two valiant friends for a time- but I know that I will see them again, in the flesh, and that the infirmities that took them out of this life will be gone forever because of YOUR Savior, Jesus Christ.
I love this work. I love this Gospel. I know that we can be with our families forever, IF we do our part.
I leave this week bearing testimony of these truths as a representative of Christ and in His name.
Changes, all these crazy changes...
Hello, all!Unfortunately, I have 5 minutes. Today was transfers, so we have less time than normal. I´ll catch up and add more next week. Sorry for those letters and emails that I still haven´t caught up on from last week.. I´ll have a little more done next week.
In Summary:
Lorena was baptized yesterday (Sunday) and it was AMAZING. It is my first baptism, and she asked me to baptize her. WHAT A BLESSING. We (the Elders) sang a special number for her as well. I am looking forward to next week´s confirmation. More next week.
Working with a number of other families, all amazing. More next week.
Survived transfers, but we have a new elder in the house who is Zone Leader 2, and Elder King got moved to become the Asistante 1 al Presidente. Sad, but we´re glad for him.
Other news, we got the ex-minister of Chile to attend part of church with us. I didn´t know that he was the ex-minister until all of the ward members started bugging me about it. More next week.
Here is the translation (fortunately I had most of it done last week, so I only need to add one more sentence).
NM: Hello, How are you?
Chilean: Well, and you? (informal, but understood)
NM: Very well, thank you. We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Have you seen us before?
Chilean: Yes, but I like have my religion and like don´t need more. Savvy? (English equivalent, spanish spread out is: "ya, pero tengo mi religion po y no necesita mas po. Cachai?)
Chilean: Oh, you (variation on ancient spanish) are (Chilean tu, sounds like "soy" which is "I am") really white and dumb. I´m going to, like, be more slow for you. I have, like, seen the missionaries before but I, like, already have my religion and, like, don´t need more, especially, like, your saint John Smidt. You´re like, CRAZY! (also the english equivalent, spanish spread out is: "He visto los misioneros po pero ya tengo mi religion po y no necesita mas po, especialmente su santo Jon Smit po. ¡Tu estai loco po!)
Wow, I´m sorry this letter is tiny. I´ll catch up more next week. Please realize that I only have an hour and a half to write the President, report my numbers, write whatever hard letters I have to, read your emails, and reply. I am trying to do better, today is unusual por culpa de Cambios.
Mucho amor, ¡Vaya bien!
A Dios, Con Dios,
Elder Wheelhouse
America Week!
Hola!
What a wonderful week! So many things... Not sure where to start to be honest... Let´s talk about Americanization.
Americanization ("modernization" to Americans) is a force for good and evil here in Chile. On the one hand, I was able to enjoy Subway for lunch today (DIVINE, I might add...), General Conference in English Via Satellite (¡Muy Rico!), and can enjoy the occasional American treat when I have the money (Snickers Bars, Waffles, and Cinamon Life, Oh My!). On the other hand, it means that when we try to teach the concepts of tithing, dia de reposo, and Chastity, we often have to work a lot harder to help our investigators understand and live these standards. We´re working with Lorena still, but she only attended one session of General Conference because she was prepping her business (Saturday, we could blow it off, but Sunday it was slightly more alarming). She has her (hopefully) final interview tonight with President Essig, and we do have a date set with her for the 9th of October. I really hope that it goes through, because I´m probably getting transferred the 10th. Pray for Lorena!
As for the rest of the barrio, things are going fairly well. I think I´ve mentioned before that we have a LOT of work to do in our sector up north, but we are slowly and steadily working through it. I´ve been sick, but we keep working through it and somehow the Lord gives me strength enough to do what I need to do during the day. THANK YOU for your prayers, I know that it is because of the people who pray for us that we can be effective at all.
General Conference was AMAZING. I don´t know if it was more intense for all of you, but for some reason it seemed a lot more intense than usual to me. The English, of course, was wonderful, but everybody seems to talk slower now. This, of course, is caused by the difference in language.
This is one other thing that I discovered this week. There are actually TWO alternate forms of spanish that are used here. One is more international (Vos) and the other is Chilean Tú form. Because they are used interchangeably and occasionally in the same sentence, this makes it much more confusing. Now that I understand the difference though, it is much better. Compare the typical experience of the first day missionary:
NM: Hola, ¿como esta?
Chilean: Bien, ¿y tu?
NM: Muy bien, Gracias. Somos misioneros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días. ¿Ha visto misioneros antes de hoy?
Chilean: Ya, protngomrlgnpoynncsitmaspo. ¿Cachai?
(New missionary looks at companion, companion looks back expectantly)
(New missionary stammers and tries to explain that he can´t speak spanish very well. Words are lost in translation, but message is clearly understood)
Chilean: Oh, vos soi GRINGO... Voy ser mas lento para tupo... Hevistolosmisionerospoperoyotengomireligionpoynonecesitamaspo, especialmentesusantoJonSmidtpo. ¡Tuestailocopo!
(New missionary almost starts crying, trainer mercifully remembers that he doesn´t know chilean spanish and takes over the conversation. New missionary stays up late trying to find out which flight he was actually supposed to take to get to Chile.)
Translation follows next week!
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. Sorry to cut short, have to go.
What a wonderful week! So many things... Not sure where to start to be honest... Let´s talk about Americanization.
Americanization ("modernization" to Americans) is a force for good and evil here in Chile. On the one hand, I was able to enjoy Subway for lunch today (DIVINE, I might add...), General Conference in English Via Satellite (¡Muy Rico!), and can enjoy the occasional American treat when I have the money (Snickers Bars, Waffles, and Cinamon Life, Oh My!). On the other hand, it means that when we try to teach the concepts of tithing, dia de reposo, and Chastity, we often have to work a lot harder to help our investigators understand and live these standards. We´re working with Lorena still, but she only attended one session of General Conference because she was prepping her business (Saturday, we could blow it off, but Sunday it was slightly more alarming). She has her (hopefully) final interview tonight with President Essig, and we do have a date set with her for the 9th of October. I really hope that it goes through, because I´m probably getting transferred the 10th. Pray for Lorena!
As for the rest of the barrio, things are going fairly well. I think I´ve mentioned before that we have a LOT of work to do in our sector up north, but we are slowly and steadily working through it. I´ve been sick, but we keep working through it and somehow the Lord gives me strength enough to do what I need to do during the day. THANK YOU for your prayers, I know that it is because of the people who pray for us that we can be effective at all.
General Conference was AMAZING. I don´t know if it was more intense for all of you, but for some reason it seemed a lot more intense than usual to me. The English, of course, was wonderful, but everybody seems to talk slower now. This, of course, is caused by the difference in language.
This is one other thing that I discovered this week. There are actually TWO alternate forms of spanish that are used here. One is more international (Vos) and the other is Chilean Tú form. Because they are used interchangeably and occasionally in the same sentence, this makes it much more confusing. Now that I understand the difference though, it is much better. Compare the typical experience of the first day missionary:
NM: Hola, ¿como esta?
Chilean: Bien, ¿y tu?
NM: Muy bien, Gracias. Somos misioneros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días. ¿Ha visto misioneros antes de hoy?
Chilean: Ya, protngomrlgnpoynncsitmaspo. ¿Cachai?
(New missionary looks at companion, companion looks back expectantly)
(New missionary stammers and tries to explain that he can´t speak spanish very well. Words are lost in translation, but message is clearly understood)
Chilean: Oh, vos soi GRINGO... Voy ser mas lento para tupo... Hevistolosmisionerospoperoyotengomireligionpoynonecesitamaspo, especialmentesusantoJonSmidtpo. ¡Tuestailocopo!
(New missionary almost starts crying, trainer mercifully remembers that he doesn´t know chilean spanish and takes over the conversation. New missionary stays up late trying to find out which flight he was actually supposed to take to get to Chile.)
Translation follows next week!
-Elder Wheelhouse
P.S. Sorry to cut short, have to go.
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