COMING HOME - IT'S MIXED FEELINGS

RILEY SAYING FAREWELL TO LA FAMILIA IGLESIAS IN MONTE AGUILA

Commentary from Riley's Mom - Abbie received this letter from Riley a few weeks ago. Tom and I thought you might like to read it. He gives a great description of his feelings about coming home.

(Coming home) It's mixed feelings. I'm way excited to come home to see all of you guys again and to start another chapter of my life with all I've learned here; it excites me. But at the same time I'm really scared to leave the mission. Out here in the mission we are right smack dab in the world. In big cities in small towns. Talking to rich people poor people. Laughing with the people through happy moments, crying with them through sad ones. Heck, we talk to them in their streets and even enter their houses!!! We learn the streets of where they live better than they could with ten years living there and I'd even go as far to say that we are in so much contact with them in all walks of life that we know the Chileans and how they live better than they know themselves. However, despite being submerged in this world, we truly are not of this world.

We are aliens!!! and not just because we are gringos jaja. We literally live in a fake world!!! Well it's not fake but it's not reality! We get the weird opportunity to live outside of reality for two years!!! Our food is handed to us, money is handed to us (not a lot but enough to buy bus tickets cookies and top ramen) our houses are handed to us and we don't have to worry about work, education or social relationships (besides with investigators). Yeah sure numbers, investigators, broken showers and cut electricity due to unpaid bills can stress at times but it's still not really reality.

I'm kind of rambling but it's weird. The best part of it all is that we are spiritually incubated from the world. Of course you can still fall but it's a lot harder to fall and lose yourself than in the real world. We talk about God, read about God, and think about the gospel almost 24 seven. It's awesome!!!! The point that I'm trying to get to is that even though I'm excited to come home, I'm scared. I'm scared to go back into the real world and I'm scared to leave the incubator spiritually. My life was good before, but I think about my perspective before, how I thought, how I felt, my testimony... and I do not ever want to go back to that. I wasn't a bad kid before but I just don't want to lose anything that I've gained. I know that it's inevitable, I'll hit a ceiling and my spirituality will go down a bit and it's kind of a sad thought. I don't know. I guess it scares me to see if I'm strong enough to keep the habits I've made and perspective I've gained. I mean it's not like I'm a spiritual glowing saint; I still have lots of flaws and defects and am not a perfect missionary, but I'm way farther ahead than from where I started. And I don't want to lose ground that I've gained or get my priorities mixed up. Dominating the natural man is a constant battle. Plus change is scary. But I'm ready I guess. Jaja Well that is definitely enough rambling for today Abbie. Love you lots and hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Harper =)

Ely Santos (Renaico)

Ely threw Riley a surprise goodbye party.  I am so thankful for her : )

Mara (Renaico)

ONE WEEKS IS STILL ENOUGH TIME TO WORK AND TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE'S LIFE

Hey hey hey!!!!

Well I think this might be my last email home and it's kind of my last p-day. Next Monday I have to be in the mission office in Concepción at 4:00pm for the final interview with President Martinez and from there to the mission house for the last supper and Tuesday morning on the plane to Santiago. So hopefully I'll have some time Monday morning to write one last email home... One week.. wow.. lots of mixed feelings. But it's all good; one week is still enough time to work and to make a difference in someone's life. Well I'm glad that you guys back home had a good week and I'm glad that you're on an efy high Bay, keep it going at least until I get home jaja and don't worry, we will be doing both some personal and companionship study in the mornings when I get home :).

Well last week was pretty good and miraculously it was the third week in a row with no rain. I couldn't believe i; God truly does love me jaja. Not only did it not rain for the past three weeks but almost all of the days were with lots of sun in a cloudless blue sky. That's unheard of in the winter here down south so we were very blessed. Yeah it was cold and there was lots of wind but I'd prefer wind and cold to rain any day. But my luck could only last for so long. The clouds have been gathering and today it is a normal rainy winter day and the rain is supposed to last at least until Thursday. But I'm totally fine with it; I might even enjoy the rain a little bit this week since it will be the last Chilean winter rain that I'll be feeling for.. well.. who knows how long.

Last week we dropped a few of the straggling investigators and we picked up a few new ones as well in both Tijeral and Renaico. I'm telling you, these two pueblos are gold mines! With another cambio or two I know we could help around ten people come unto Christ through baptism, but alas my time has come!!! I'm starting to have some deja vu with this email so I've probably already mentioned all of this stuff before, anyways moving on. It was slightly harder to work last week due to the Copa America huge South American soccer tournament between the countries going on here but it's not as big a hype as the World Cup was last year. Just during the Chile games it's impossible to get anything done jaja so for the Chile games we either try to be out on the street trying to find people to talk to or with an investigator.

Our progressing investigators in both towns are coming along well. Slowly, but at least they´re chugging along making some progress. Mara is still awesome and wants nothing more than to get married and baptized. Her getting married and baptized this week is starting to look like a long shot but we will find out more tonight when we go visit her what the possibilities are. It still can happen and I'm going to do everything that I possibly can so that it does. Hopefully it''s the Lords will that I will be able to be there for her marriage and baptism. Her husband likes the church and wants to get baptized as well but is still kind of stubborn with the whole smoking thing. Well keep working on it. The families in Tijeral are stuck in the same spot; they need to read and pray. The 14 year old daughter Karen has been reading and thinks she wants to get baptized but she still hasn't prayed and asked God if the Book is true or not yet. Hopefully this week they will all be able to read and pray so that they can all get baptized this coming month in August. The same goes for the other family (la familia Godoy).

On SatUrday we had a big branch activity which was a comedy talent show. Everyone put together funny skits or told jokes and stuff. It was a lot of fun and a few investigators went including Mara and her family. We did a few skits and had fun making fools of ourselves for the entertainment of our investigators and the members jaja. My companion and I are still getting along. Yeah he´s weird and still kind of gets on my nerves sometimes but were doing fine. I could be with him another cambio if I had to be jaja. But ya nothing really more to mention there.

Well the last week to work starts now. Right now I'm in Los Ángeles saying goodbye to my converts and some members here and then at six we will be heading out to work to kick off the last week. There are so many different things going through my head now that I'm finishing, that I'm just trying not to think jaja. I'm just going to keep my head down and work to the end; that's the best way to finish. That's the only intelligent thing to do. I wouldn't want to rob myself, you guys, or anybody here of blessings they could receive just because I decide to give up at the end. So this week I'll be soaking it all in. The rain (literally), the feel of the wood door under my knuckles, the peace of the spirit as we teach and testify, the rude rejection, hearing ¨po¨ at the end of every other word, or even just walking down the street and looking down at my plaque with the Lord's name and my name on it. The normal average day to day missionary stuff. And hopefully I'll be soaking up those baptismal waters one last time. I want to bring those white clothes home damp for you to wash Mom jaja. Well I love you all very much and I'll be seeing you very soon. Time to go give it one last hurrah! CHAITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

con amor de Chile, Elder Harper

I LOVE THIS WORK. I'M REALLY AM GOING TO MISS IT, BUT I'LL BE LEAVING CALM AND AT PEACE, AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODY!!!!!

I hope that you guys all had plenty of barbecue, beach, and fireworks. Here I

didn't see another gringo all day but that's ok. I guess I had my own private quiet celebration, Happy Birthday America!!! The only celebration going on yesterday was that Chile played Mexico in soccer in la Copa America, which is the tournament for all of South and Central America and due to that, the only ciber here in Renaico was closed so I could not write you. But we wrapped up district meeting here a little early here in Angol so that I could come write you guys before lunch.

Anyways my week was really good but also very short. Due to the conference last week we couldn't start working until Wednesday so we had a lot to make up for the lost half day in Renaico and a full day lost in Tijeral. So we spent the whole week running around from investigator to investigator in both pueblos and due to the lack of time, our investigators who aren´t progressing as much were kind of put on standby, on the wayside. Our main focus the whole week was Mara. She is doing good but we did have a few hiccups and speed bumps with her last week but it all worked out fine in the end. It's a long story of what happened and not all that interesting but we are helping her to have the strength to overcome any trial that comes her way so that she can enjoy the blessings of baptism and membership in the Lord´s true church. If everything goes well she will be getting married on Friday the 15th, Baptized on Saturday the 16th, and confirmed on Sunday the 17th. I'll be praying hard that it all works out.

As of last week, we now have more progressing investigators in Tijeral than in Renaico and not enough time to teach them all. Last week we couldn't get to a few investigators who are good and starting to progress just because there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week jaja. We are teaching 3 complete families and are starting with another few investigators here and there as well. Also, due to the request of investigators we are starting to teach, English classes in Tijeral as well Fridays at five. We plan of having like 10 investigators and a few members at the class this Friday. One of the families is the familia Leon, which consists of the dad Manuel, the mom Isabel, two daughters Natali 18 and Karen 14, and 7 year old Felipe. They are extremely friendly and have to feed us every time we go there. Good old southern Chilean hospitality =). Last week we taught them the Restoration of the Gospel and left them with the challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. The spirit was felt and they understood and commited to read and pray so today we should see how it went with them.

The other family, which is related to and neighboors of the first, is the familia Godoy, which consists of the parents and a fifteen year old daughter Daniela. The daughter is the most interested and is very mature for her age; she acts like an 18 year old. She's the one who got and is getting people organized for the English class. She is really active in her Protestant religion but is receptive and wants to learn more. Hopefully today we will be teaching her the Restoration. Her family is also too nice and friendly and they also have to feed us everytime we go there. These people don't take no for an answer. The last family is the one we've had since I got here. Pedro the dad, Jesica the mom, Maria 9 and Constanza 4. The Dad still hasn't come but made a promise to me to go on my last Sunday in Tijeral. The Mom and Daughters continue going and like it and know it's true but don't feel ready for baptism. But although they are going to church, they are not reading or praying so of course they aren't going to feel ready! So we made for them a spiritual progression calendar, where they put check marks everyday for praying in the morning, reading, praying as a family, and praying at night. I first used it with Ale and Dina in Los Angeles and it worked there so hopefully it will work here.

Well those are all of our best investigators for now, too many for too little time left jaja. I'm bummed that I'll be in such a great sector for so little time. With another cambio we could baptize like ten here between these two branches but alas, time is almost up. So I'm just going to leave as many baptismal dates and progressing investigators as I can for the next guy coming in. No time for slowing down now, too much work to do =). Even though I won't be able to baptize everybody I'm so grateful that I got sent to this sector to end my mission. It's great and I'm truly starting to fall in love with both Renaico and Tijeral. There is lots of work to do here, Tijeral needs its own set of missionaries, maybe someday. Monte Aguila still needs its missionaries back as well.

Speaking of Monte Aguila, yesterday me and my comp went there so I could say my final goodbyes to members and converts there. Once again I was shocked with how much that town loves me. I feel like they have my pedestal way more high than it should be jaja. I try to tell them that I'm really not that great but they all think the world of me. But it's cool, it's a good feeling to be loved. And it was a good trip because I got to see almost everyone and see that most of them are active. Maria and Carolina are kind of flaking but I had a good talk with Carolina so that she goes active. She just needs a little push that's all.

So that's all I got for this week. Lots and lots of work and we didn't even have enough time to visit all of the people we needed to. I'm grateful that there is so much to do and so many people to teach here in my last month and last couple of weeks. So I will finish working, teaching, hopefully baptizing and hopefully we will be able to find some time in between our appointments to knock some doors jaja. Well I love you all and I love this work. I'm really am going to miss it, but I'll be leaving calm and at peace, and that's what matters. Well see you all soon! Keep enjoying summer and until next Monday CIAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Harper =)

RIDING MY BIKE AWAY FROM HER HOUSE MY HEART WAS FILLED WITH JOY AND GRATITUDE FOR OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN AND HIS PERFECT PLAN

Hola Hola!!!

Well, the long awaited summer break has arrived jaja. I remember those days, good times. Well it's not exactly summer here but at least it didn't rain at all last week!!! yay!!! jaja. One thing that I wont miss is the rain. Yes icy cold winds from the south replaced the rain but at least their was sun and I´d prefer to freeze my but off then to get wet in the rain any day. Oh and on a side note, the winds brought in a light rain of volcanic ash over night, so when we woke up in the morning a very light white dust was covering everything. I'm sure you guys have been hearing about the volcano and stuff here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZZIE!!!!! Wow Mom and Dad, a kid in his twenties and all of the rest down to the youngest teenagers.. I completely agree; you guys are wayyyy too young for that! jaja I hope it was a good one Izzie, you don't complete thirteen everyday. Cogratulations on the graduation Abbie!!!! White robes and a 4.0 I must say you are a studette. And what better way to celebrate than with concerts and more concerts right jaja. Sounds like it was a fun weekend/week.

We had a good week here and I've got a lot to write so I guess I'll get started. First with an explanation of why I'm writing so late. So yesterday from like 8:30 am through the whole day we had a huge mission-wide conference as a farewell for President Swenson at the big stake center in Talcahuano. So all of the like 190 missionaries of the whole mission were there, it was awesome. Due to Talcahuano being

kind of far we traveled up to Conce on Sunday afternoon to spend the night there to be able to get to the conference on time yesterday. Unfortunately all of the missionary houses in the north were filled to the brim so me and 35 other missionaries slept on the floor of the mission office. Yeah, I didn't really sleep at all; it kind of reminded me of the earthquake days jaja but it was cool. Then the conference was absolutely awesome. We took a picture of the entire mission with the President and Hermana Swenson and then had some spirituality and some funness. There were a ton of prepared spiritual musical numbers for some parts and then like half of the zones had funny corny skits prepared for a mission exhibition. Even though there are plenty of people who speak spanish better than me in the mission, once again the Hermana Swenson had me translate for her for like over an hour, jaja. It was kind of tiring but like I said last time, it was an honor and a privilege, especially since it was with the whole mission. It was a good day, and just cool being with the whole mission at once, with all of my old comps (except the dead ones) and all of my good buddies. It was cool talking to all of them and then after the conference I got to go around saying good bye to all of my friends here that I'm not going to see anymore. But the hardest goodbye was definitely with President and Hermana Swenson. I love and respect them so much and am extremely greatful for all that they´ve done for me and the mission these last years. I couldn't have possibly ask for a better mission president. Yeah, I am excited for President Martinez to get here but it was still sad saying goodbye. Afterwards every missionary got to go up to say good bye to the President and the Hermana and to take a picture with them.

Yesterday was a catholic holiday here in Chile so after the conference ended their were no more buses back to Renaico so I went up to Centinela to visit some families for the last time and then stayed the night in Elder Calaway´s house. Since it was a mission wide thing, President gave us today as pday but we used all of it traveling back to Renaico jaja. We got back like at 6:30 and now here I am writing you all. President Swenson left today at five oclock pm and President Martinez starts now taking over the reins. It will be an interesting transition.

Ok, Now I'll tell you about my week and my birthday. Honestly, I didn't even remember my birthday until like 10:30am the morning of. I just got up and went through the routine like normal and only remembered when I wrote the date in my agenda as we planned. I honestly didn´t have high hopes for this birthday because the last one was so good but this one was also amazing and rivals my last one in awesomeness jaja. I'll miss mission birthdays. Anyways the morning wasn't very successful. Plans A-G failed but plan Z finally went through and we got in the house of this one girl we contacted last week. We didn't have much time with her but we left her a pamphlet and she seemed pretty nice so we will see how that goes. Remember that family (that sister) I told you about that LOVES the missionaries and takes really good care of them? Well we had lunch with them and when we walked in she was there with baloons and birthday hats and a cake with candles yelling SORPRESA!!! Jaja I had no idea that she knew but I guess that Hermana Swenson let her know through facebook that it was my birthday. So her and another invited family sang, put a big birthday hat on me, made me blow out the candles and then my comp did the

traditional push-the-head-into-the-cake when I went for the first bite. It was fun and she even gave me two little birthday gifts. Oh and thanks for the packages grandma and papa and family. My companion and I greatly enjoyed and are enjoying the birthday goodies. Oh also Hermana Swenson and President Swenson called to wish me a happy birthday and to thank me for my mission service and stuff; it was cool.

After lunch we went out to work like normal and we found the most golden prepared investigator that I've ever found my entire mission. Well we didn't find her; that's not fair. She dropped into our laps jaja. So the story really started my first Sunday in Renaico when I didn't know who anybody was and even more I was without my comp. Afterwards, the branch president comes up to me and says, ¨Elder Harper welcome to the branch, today a woman came who is not a member of our church but I talked to her after sacrament meeting and she wants you guys to go to her house and teach her so that she can get baptized, isnt that great! Here's her information¨ Of course I couldn't believe it and then it really did seem too good to be true when we found out that the direction was bad. But in the end it turns out that it was just copied down wrong and we got the real one, so when we went after lunch on Wednesday, she let us right on in and then told us her life story in classic Chilean manner. It was a really long story and she really likes to talk but in conclusion, she is just coming out of some really tough times of no job and hunger just recently and shes had a lot of experiences throughout her whole life that have just kind of led her here. She's had contact and good experiences with members and she's recieved impressions and signs from God that led her to walk through the doors of the church on her lonesome and without a specific invite two weeks ago. She doesn't know too much about our doctrine yet but she knows how the members (for the most part) are and she can't deny the nudges that God has given her and she's willing to do and give up anything she has to in order to join the church and make God and spiritual matters the number one priority in her life. Like I didn't even need to explain to her that all of her trials and experiences were God leading her here because she already connected the dots on her own and is willing and excited to press forward. Basically we don't have much work to do there jaja. We just need to teach her the lessons and she will accept everything right away without a doubt. The only doctrine of the Church she already knows about from talking to a member is tithing and she already wants to pay it.

Being in her house and hearing her story, the spirit was strong, and upon riding my bike away from the house my heart was just filled with joy and gratitude for our Father in Heaven and his perfect plan, and his personal plans that he has for all of us and how they connect and intertwine to bring about the work and the glory of God. I gave him lots of tearful thanks leaving that house for him leading that daughter of his to us and for preparing her heart and testifying to her through the spirit even before us missionaries got there. She said that she would be coming to church alone this week because she has three young rambunctious kids but this Sunday her, her ¨husband¨, and her three kids strode through the chapel doors and despite their disorder, they stayed for all three hours and absolutely loved it. Yes, shes not married, but in her own words she said that she knows that she's living in sin and that she's willing to get married as soon as possible, even if they just have to go sign the papers with the lawyer and then go back to work. So her getting baptized before I leave or not all depends upon how soon is soon. She said before the end of July, so we are going to be hoping and praying and doing everything we can so that they can get married and baptized within these next three weeks. It might be a long shot but with tho Lord's help we can do it. And if it doesn't happen before I leave, I will at least leave with the certainty that she will get baptized shortly following my departure.

The sifting of investigators is going good I guess jaja. We've dropped a few and as you can see picked up some more but today I'm out of time but will be talking more about Mara Diaz (our golden girl) and our other progressing investigators next week. Over all with Tijeral and Renaico we had six investigators in church on Sunday, none of them with a baptismal date but we plan on making that change this week. It was a great birthday, and a great week, definitely one for the books. I love God and I love the mission. I'm excited to come home and to start the next chapter but it won't be easy to say goodbye. Well got to go soak up all I can of these next three weeks. I love you all and wish you a great kickoff to summer. See ya soon. CHAO!!!!!!!!!!!

con amor, Elder Harper =)

MAY THE LAST MONTH BEGIN!!! GOIN BIG O GOIN HOME!!!

Muchas holas a todos!!!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!!! I hope that you had a good one. Well it sounds like you guys had a busy weekend. Congratulations to Bre. 
Can´t believe she´s getting married so soon. Congratulations to Andrea for going through the temple, and the last stretch before the mission begins, jaja, lots of waiting. I remember it like it was yesterday, man time goes by fast.

Well my week here was pretty good. It rained the entire week on and off everyday and today the sun came out finally yay! The first time I´ve seen the sun since last Monday. God has given us a break from the rain on pday jaja. But I think I would prefer the rain on pday and the sun for when I'm out knocking doors. Anyways it was a good week.

On Tuesday we found a lot more people in Tijeral to teach so for now we are going to be going there 3 times a week to work. Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. On Thursday we had capacitaciónes with the Presdent and the whole southern half of the mission in Temuco. The assistants gave a little spiel and then to practice we went out with different companions and had a competition to see who could get into the most houses to teach something in an hour and a half. It was a lot of fun and opened the mind up to ways to work around people's excuses to get in and teach something. Plus, it forced us to be more creative and try new strategies. I really enjoyed it and we were able to find a good family who wants the missionaries to keep coming back and teaching and we felt the spirit strong in the house.

Afterwards President and the Hermana Swenson talked. The hermana Swenson speaks spanish but even still when she talks to all of the missionaries she speaks in English and has a missionary translate for her up front, usually a latin missionary who speaks English. This time she asked me to come up and translate for her, which I considered an honor because I don´t think my spanish is all that great and she usually doesn't have gringos translate for her, so yeah, that was a good self esteem boost jaja. Then afterwards President Swenson took all of the missionaries who are finishing the mission in July and August out to dinner since we won't be able to have the traditional final supper with him in the mission home before we leave. He took us to Ruby Tuesdays in the casino in Temuco and maybe it's not the best restaurant in the states but man I felt like a high roller there jaja. I guess that's because the best place to eat that I've been here in Chile so far is the Pizza Hut in Temuco or some good completo stands. After dinner we went back to the chapel where President gave us some advice and we had a group discussion, and then we ended with a testimony meeting. It was awesome having that time with President and the Hermana Swenson and being with lots of my buddies from the mission, almost all of the missionaries who got here with me. And the testimony meeting was, well, awesome. Afterwards it was too late to grab a bus so we went and picked up my companion and then the assistants drove us back to Renaico and stayed there with us for the night before heading back up to Conce.

The rest of the week we spent looking for new investigators and sifting through the giant teaching pool we have to see where we need to put our focus and who out of all the people are really going to progress. My companion is new so he can't really tell who is a good progressing investigator or not very well so it's been a slow process but we are getting there. Unfortunately out of all of our investigators, not really any of them progressed much this week because they either went out of town for Father's Day (yes they celebrate it here) or didn't come to church because of the rain. One of the better investigators we had didn't come because he went to go visit his father in jail who has a three year sentence. His family situation is sad but his brother already got baptized and we are now working on him and his Mom. His mom is tough but I think we will be able to get him (Nacho) baptized this cambio. There are a ton of incomplete families here, and lots of weird investigators. We have the biggest most hodge podge teaching pool that I've ever seen jaja. Which is fine, like I said before, we just need to help them start to progress and start sifting out the wheat from the chaff.

This Sunday was rough, both for Renaico and Tijeral, due to Father's Day and the rain. In Renaico only 48 members went and 3 investigators. In Tijeral only 13 people went to church and none of our investigators. This Sunday I went to Tijeral with a member and my companion stayed in Renaico. Also both me and my companion gave talks. Tijeral is the smallest branch I've ever seen but I guess it's a small town. Even though it's even smaller than Santa Juana. It has a legit chapel but like a playhouse version of the chapels back in the states jaja. It's tiny. In the salon sacramental no more than thirty people could fit and after that there are no more than three classrooms. This Sunday there were such few priesthood that the branch president had to come down from the stand and pass the sacrament. His wife says that she will bake us a cake if we find and baptize someone who could hold the priesthood. They want priesthood holders so bad; I hope to be able to help them out with that, cake or not.

Well I'm starting to get my bearings now in both Renaico and Tijeral and I like both pueblos. But I can't lie, these past two weeks I've been a little sector trunky, trunky for Villa Obispo jaja. I miss it. It's just weird getting to a new sector and meeting the members and knowing you're only going to be there for six weeks. It makes it harder to get closer with the members and what not. But now I'm getting used to it and am starting to like and even love these two pueblos. Since i had to get cambiod out of Villa Obispo, no matter what, I'm glad that President sent me here to Renaico for my last cambio. I know that it was for a reason and so I just got to do everything to fulfill his purposes and God's purposes for me here in Renaico. I love you all very much and ask you to pray for me so that the spirit can guide me to those chosen souls who can come unto Christ through baptism this cambio here in Renaico. May the last month begin!!! Goin big o goin home!!!

con mucho amor, Elder Harper

THE TOWN IS SMALL. ALMOST ALL OF THE ROADS ARE PAVED BUT THERE IS NO SUPERMARKET.

Hello!!!

Sounds like everythings going good back at home, just winding up the school year. Congratulations on graduating seminary guys way to go!!! Well down here in Chile winter is definitely setting in to stay. Last week we didn't really see too much of the sun at all. It kind of just rained on and off all week, but it let up on Sunday and yesterday and today we're cold and sunny. With the rain gone the temperatures drop, but that's ok, I prefer the cold to hot any day. And cold means no rain which is even better. Oh and we have a nice big wood stove right in between mine and my comps beds in the bedroom so that's awesome. When we get that thing goin' it's even too warm.

Yeah, Renaico is a cool town and the area around it and Tijeral is really pretty. It used to be a big railstop town but now most of the tracks are out of use and the station is all but abandoned. Just like most towns here in Chile. Monte Águila, Loncoche and now Renaico have all had big abandoned railway stations. Yeah the town is small, it's not as small as Monte Águila but it's just not very developed at all. Almost all of the roads are paved but there is no supermarket (even Monte had a supermarket of sorts!) and there is not an updated city map from the last ten years so it will be a little tougher orienting myself. And due to the lack of the supermarket, our diet is a little more limited but we have lunch with the members everyday so it's all good.

The house here in Renaico is even bigger than the Loncoche house I think. It's got a living room, kitchen, bathroom, garage, where we store the firewood, and four bedrooms. And it's just us too in the house so it's bigger than we could ever need. Oh and there are these members here in Renaico who just love the missionaries and are awesome. I met them my first night in Chile and they still remember me. They remembered that I was DeLeon´s kid, jaja. Anyways like a year or so ago they gave the missionaries bikes so here in this sector we have bikes!!! Jaja one of the two sectors of the whole mission with bikes. So that's cool but we still haven't really gotten to use them because my second day here my comp broke his so it's in the shop getting fixed. But it will be ready tomorrow and then we will be biking around this place like states missionaries. Well most states missionaries have cars now but you know what I mean.

Elder Arroyo is from Salta Argentina and he´s been a member of the church for almost two years now. He was baptized when I was getting ready to leave the MTC jaja weird. He´s a good guy and we get along but man is he a weird kid. He speaks really low and mumbles a lot. If I hadn´t been in the mission so long I wouldn´t understand a word he says. He´s also kind of clueless. He can get his way around the sector but doesn't know like half the members names so that's kind of a challenge but it's all good. And well..he's kind of femy.. well he´s really femy but that's ok I can deal with that; I have before. Despite all of that we get along and he's a humble guy so we shouldn't have really any problems.

I´m still getting to know the members and branch here in Renaico but from what it looks like it's really big. There were 82 people in church last week, which according to my comp is a record, and they say on average there are between 65 and 70. Sundays are kind of weird because my comp and I have to split up. This Sunday my comp went with a member to the branch in Tijeral and I stayed with a member here in Renaico. So it was weird knowing barely anyone at church and being kind of.. well.. alone but it went well. Two investigators went in Renaico and seven in Tijeral. I was expecting barely any to go in Tijeral but the branch president there has been working with his neighboors and this Sunday he brought the whole family of five to church with him. According to my comp they seemed to enjoy it and we are going to see if we can teach them with the branch president and his family this week.

Here in Renaico there are a ton of investigators but most of them are in situations where they are progressing very slowly. Actually most of them are kids who need permission from their parents to get baptized or we need for their families to get reactivated so they can get baptized. I still don't know all of them yet because we couldn't get a hold of all of them this week but man there are a ton!!! None of them are ready to go and all of them need a lot of work first but man there is a ton of potential here in this sector for Renaico and Tijeral. I don't know how we are going to efficiently get work done in both pueblos but we will make it happen. There are a lot of people that we can potentially baptize here before I leave so I am stoked to work and make it happen. It's not going to be easy by any means because a lot of them are tough investigators but I don´t let that bother me. We can do it.

Well that's all that I´ve got for this week. As I get to know the sector and branch I'll tell you more about it and as investigators start to progress out of our messy teaching pool I'll give you more details on them. This week we will be sifting out the investigators that we will be putting more of our focus on. It's going to be a good week. And I´ve been sicker than a dog ever since the Saturday before I left Los Ángeles. I'll give it a few more days and if nothing happens I'll get it checked out because I think that it might be a sinus infection. But I´ve been medicating myself well so I can keep working at 100 percent jaja so don't worry about me. Well until next week I love you guys very much and we´ll be seeing you soon! CHAO!!!!ç

con amor, Élder Harper (el campecino)

THE TIME OF THE FINAL SPRINT TO THE FINISH LINE HAS COME. MY LAST CAMBIO; I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT. SIX WEEKS, IT WILL GO BY IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.

Hola a todos!!!

So school is winding down at home and so is the mission here for me.. sigh.. but don't worry, I'm not like Abbie with senioritis, no signs of trunkiness =) jaja,Love you Abbie! Anyways last week was pretty good, it was my last week in Villa Obispo and last week as zone leader. President took all of my group and the group that goes home after me from leadership positions so that the younger guys can have more leadership experience when President Martinez takes over on June 28th. But before I get to the cambios, I´ll let you know how the week went even though it wasn't all that eventful.

We weren´t able to meet with Pamela all last week because she was out of town but she came back Saturday night and still came to church on Sunday so we were pretty stoked about that. We just need to get to know and talk to the boyfriend so that they can get married, and if that is hopeless, so that they at least can get separated. If it wasn´t for that, she would get baptized right away. She is incredibly humble and receptive and really really nervous. She's always worried that she''s doing something wrong and its hard for her to look at people that she doesn´t know well in the eye.

We weren´t able to get a hold of Patricia and Rayen til the weekend but they are doing well. They have a date for the 25th of June and Patricia came to church again. Rayen stayed home with her brother because she was sick. Mattias is doing all right but his parents are a pain. His mom is lazy and hasn't come to church and when Mattias doesn't ¨behave¨ his dad won't let him go to church, but I still know that he will get baptized, and soon. We also found a few very good new investiagators last week who are very interested in getting to know the church and we have citas with them this week. Some are incomplete families so it will be good working with them. Well, for the missionaries that are going to work with them. And Alejandra fell off the face of the planet. That's about everything new with the investigators that I can think of at the moment. I also did my last two baptismal interviews of my mission last week, sniff sniff. I´ll really miss that. I love seeing the spirit and feeling the testimonies of baptismal candidates.

As far as converts go,' Christopher came on Sunday and hes doing good. Jose Cruces finally recieved the priesthood and shood be getting a calling soon. He and his wife have interviews with the bishop this week. Also Ale and Dina had some drama, but everything is fixed now. We had a great spiritual talk with them and he understands repentance better now and I know that they won't be straying from the straight and narrow any time soon. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone last night (there was no time on Sunday because we went up to conce for my last consejo on Monday, thus the lack of email yesterday).

Some of my best converts and the most faithful members I have met here are in Villa Obispo. I loved it a lot and in my book it's right up there with Monte Águila. I am now in Renaico, a little pueblo just like 45 minutes south west of Los Ángeles, inbetween Los Ángeles and Angol. 
I´m now in a different zone and have no leadership responsibilities, just like half of all the zone leaders from last cambio. Oh, side note, but Bustos is asistant now, I'm stoked about that. Anyways I´m not training but I´m finishing the training of Elder Arroyo, an Argentine that just got here last cambio. We mainly work here in Renaico but we also have another and smaller pueblo in our sector called Tijeral. It's its own branch but it's even smaller than Monte Aguila and Santa Juana. We work there Tuesdays and Sundays, and in Renaico every other day. And from the looks of it, we have a few progressing investigators in both pueblos. I´ve heard good things about this place and I'm stoked to be here. It was my Papi´s (DeLeons) favorite sector. We actually stayed here my first night in the mission on our way down to Pitrufquén. It's cool to be back in a pueblo too I guess; president sure loves me in the pueblos jaja.

Well the time of the final sprint to the finish line has come. My last cambio; I can hardly believe it. Six weeks, it will go by in the blink of an eye. I swear I just started last cambio like last week! Oh well what can you do. I´ll miss Swainston cuz we were good buds and got along well but I'm stoked to finish my mission with a Latin who doesnt know English with just us in the house. It's been a while since I've been a whole day without speaking English. It will be fun to end it speaking as much spanish as possible. Well I'll tell you more about the sector and my new comp next week. I love you all and we will be seeing eachother in no time. CHAO!!!!!!!

con cariño, Elder Harper =)

I'M GOING TO MILK MY LAST WEEK HERE IN THIS SECTOR FOR ALL THAT IT'S WORTH BECAUSE I WILL REALLY MISS IT

Hey hey hey!

Happy Memorial Day! Hope it's a good one with a good ol´ fashioned American barbecue. Well this week was pretty good, not really any reason to complain but our best investigators are just kind of, stagnant. Well maybe not stagnant but progressing a lot more slowly than we would like. This week most of them progressed very little or just didn't progress. Patricia and Rayen are in Santiago. We found and taught them last week so that was good. Patricia is just really weird, like really hot and cold, but I truly believe she and her daughter will be baptized by the end of June. She´ll get there, she´s just taking a while.

Alejandra recently started working and we couldn't get a hold of her all week. So we hope to change that this week and teach her officially for the first time. We had a great lesson with Mattias, his mom Ximena, and the ex-wife Rosa and they all agreed to be baptized. They were all excited to come to church this week but they didn't show. Not even the recent convert Dad and son came, which is unlike them. So we will have to see what went down there either today or tomorrow. Sigh.. investigators.. so stressful at times.

The only investigator that we had that showed progression this week was this new investigator that we found last week. We taught her this week and she is awesome. She could be baptized in less than a month except for one thing.. she's not married!!!! But it's not like I can say that that came as a surprise. She lives with her boyfriend and her seven year old kid. Her name is Pamela. She is very receptive, very poor and humble, and very very nervous and suspicious. Her character leads me to think that there might be some violence issues in the home but I won't jump to conclusions just yet. We haven't even met the guy yet just the son. But she came to church this Sunday and she has the desire to follow Jesus and be baptized if she comes to know that the church is true. So now we just need to help her so that she can either get married or separated so she will be able to be baptized.

She also came to this great devotional that we had on Saturday night and that helped her a lot. On Saturday there was a stake devotional for all of the recent converts from the last two years in the whole stake and for investigators. President Swenson came to speak at it and the Stake President spoke as well and let me just say that it was awesome. The spirit was felt strong, Pamela loved it, and I got to see some of the converts and some members from Monte Águila =). It was just a very joyful and spiritual evening. I was disappointed that none of my converts from Galvarino came but oh well, what can ya do. Then on Sunday Pamela came to church and really enjoyed it and I don't doubt that she will keep coming, with her. It will just all depend on the boyfriend, whether he is willing to support her and get married, or if she is strong enough to take her kid and move out, or kick the boyfriend out. So we will see how that goes.

In the end last week was good because we were able to teach a lot and by doing that I was able to feel the spirit a lot as well as our investigators. But almost none of them went to church therefore they weren´t able to progress. So this week we will have to see why they didn't come and help make sure that they come this next week. Well 
I´m coming up on my last week here in VIlla Obispo, my last week as zone leader, and the beginning of the end of my mission. I'm going to milk my last week here in this sector for all that it's worth because I really will miss it, especially the ward. Well that's all I got for today. Congratulations on your eye surgery Dad, happy recovery and well, I hope you all have a great week.

Entonces hasta Lunes, portense bien y cuidense mucho, les quiero harto, CHAO!!!

con cariño, Elder Harper =)

Familia Kiger (Villa Obispo)

Paulin y Cristopher (Villa Obispo)

JUST HAVING LOTS OF FUN TEACHING, FEELING THE SPIRIT AND SEEING WHEN THE LIGHT BULB TURNS ON AND INVESTIGATORS UNDERSTAND. GOOD STUFF.

Hello everybody!!!

Another week come and gone, but it was a pretty good week. It started off kind of slowly and a little disappointing the first couple of days but things worked themselves out by the end. I´ll start by telling you about this one new investigator that we have that was basically a gift from God dropped right into our laps. Her name is Alejandra and we found her in church not yesterday but two weeks ago. She´s Chilena but she just moved back here to Chile two weeks ago after living for twenty years in Argentina, including most of her childhood. Besides her family, she has no connections here and has been feeling kind of lost and alone. She came into contact with the church through an employment service thing that they do in the Los Angeles South Stake and they have helped her to find a job and have really given her a helping hand, orienting herself here in Chile. They invited her to church but she said that our chapel here in this stake was closer to where she's living so she just showed up two Sundays ago and that's where we found here. She really liked church and is grateful to the members who are helping her out. We tried to get her address and an appointment after sacrament meeting but she said that the house where she is staying isn't hers and that they aren't really friendly to the church. So she just said that she would be back next week and ran out before saying anything else.

Now yesterday she showed up again and stayed for all three hours. The sisters in relief society did a great job fellow shipping her and now we have an appointment to teach her in the house of a member who lives very close to where she´s staying. So we are very excited to teach her on tomorrow because she seems very enthusiastic and interested in learning more about the Gospel. So we will see how that goes this week. With Patricia and Rayen.. well they are still really good but kind of sketchy. She loves when we come to her house and she loves hearing about the gospel and wants to get baptized and then other times we go to her house and everything is locked up and we see her hiding from us. And she's just kind of a sketchy person. We think that her sincerity and her desire to be born again and get baptized is sincere, but we also think that something else fishy is going on under the surface. Due to her behavior and demeanor and some other clues we actually think that she might be a drug addict. But that's ok, it's nothing that we can´t help fix. If her desire to come unto Christ is sincere then we will be able to help her overcome any obstacle that might arise while she and her daughter prepare to be baptized. They both came to church yesterday and it seemed like they liked it a lot.

We are also now teaching this big part-member family that seems to get bigger every time we go over there. The Dad and the kid got baptized in Galvarino a couple of months ago (I did the interview) and now they are coming to Villa Obispo. We are now teaching the little kid's cousin, Mattias, who is 10, Mattias´s mom and the mom of the little kid who is the ex- wife of the convert. Mattias has been to church twice now and he loves it. He would get baptized tomorrow if he could. His mom is also very receptive but we've only taught her once. She couldn't come to church this week but she said that she would next week. The ex-wife is also very receptive and said that she wants to get baptized to start over new again. She also said that she would go next week so we will see how it goes. Before we couldn't even go over to this convert's house because of family issues but now they have softened their hearts and every time we go over there more and more people are there waiting for us to teach them and participating in the lessons. Last time we went over there it was awesome and the spirit was felt so were are excited to see how this family progresses.

Well that's all that I got for this week folks. Just having lots of fun teaching. Teaching, and feeling the spirit, and seeing when the light bulb turns on and investigators understand. Good stuff.. stuff that I'm going to miss in two months time.. sigh.. oh well. That's what life is about. Changes. Well I love you all very much and like always am grateful for all of the love and support you guys give me. Take care and have a great week! CIAO!!!!

con amor, Elder Harper =)

I'M HAPPY AND I'M GOOD AND ME AND MY COMP HAVE CALQUIER ANIMO TO WORK THIS WEEK AND FIND THE LORD'S ELECT

The Cruces Family

President and Hermana Swenson and all the Zone Leaders

and APs in the Chile Concepcion South Mission

Hola a todos!!!!

Well this week was pretty good I guess, some ups and some downs, just another week in the mission jaja. We have some pretty good new investigators but it's just been hard to help them progress. We taught two new wedded(yes!!!!) couples this week who are very intelligent and very receptive. I love teaching humble and simple people but sometimes it's a nice break to teach someone who is intelligent and receptive who gets the message without too much explanation. Anyway both of these families have good potential, both already had commitments for this weekend so they couldn´t go to church but we will see how things go with teaching them this week so that they can progress and go next week. They only bad part about teaching upper-middle class people in this sector is that their work schedules are usually nuts, but if they are really interested they can shift their priorities to put God and the message of the Gospel above their other stuff.

Also this week we got a few good references from members and we´re planning family nights with them and the members for this week so we are excited about that. Working with members is a million times better than knocking doors. In this mission on average one in every 1400 contacts gets baptized, while the statistic for member references is like twenty times better. Working with members is just a lot more efficient, numbers don't lie. Also when a member can help a friend, neighbor, or family member accept the gospel and get baptized, they are happier and get a lot more excited to help us out even more. So yeah, working with members is a lot more efficient. Remember that kids.

Patricia and her daughter Rayen (our golden investigators from last week) are doing good but we are worried about them. When we taught them last week she understood everything and at the end without us even mentioning it she asked us what she needs to do to get baptized and she says that she wants her daughter and son to get baptized as well. So we were and are really stoked about that because she seems very sincere and the spirit is always felt strong in her house. She also told us she was going to go to church this weekend. But when we went back to teach her on Friday she wasn´t there. So we left a note under her door and well it's still there. She just disappeared and her and her family haven't been home since Friday. So hopefully everything is ok there and that nothing bad or weird happened. We are going to go by tonight to see what's up.

Let's see what else, well in the end working with members was somewhat successful this last week but contacting in the street and knocking doors was not. We contacted a lot and didn't have too much success in that department, most of them were just normal but we got more nastier responses than usual. I felt kind of like a stateside missionary with all of the hostility jaja. But it's all good. The work goes on. On Friday we went to Yumbel and I did a baptismal interview there. It was a very long and complicated interview. She is very repentant and humble but she had an abortion (it took me a long time to find out) like thirty years ago and she feels still just terrible about it. So in the end I had to call President Swenson so that he could take over with the interview and in the end everything went fine and she got baptized on Saturday. She reminded me a lot of Irma, sweet lady. And that took up literally the entire day.

In other news, it looks like we are going to have to drop Elton. He just doesn't want to do the things to progress, it's almost like he's happy in his misery, but we can't force people to change their lives and be happy. We made that clear to him. So if he comes to us or comes to church with a change of heart we will be thrilled to continue working with him, but until then we are just going to leave him. It's hard and sad but it's life, it happens. Oh also Ale got the priesthood this weekend and for the first time ever, he came not only in shirt and tie, but in a suit. I have no idea where he got the suit but it was awesome to see him like that instead of his usal slightly flaite get up. Ale and Dina are doing just fine, they are learning more and more and progressing a lot. Jose and Madelin are good but he still hasn't received the priesthood, but he has an interview this week with the bishop so hopefully that goes well. They went to church yesterday and are doing good but they just haven't really progressed at all since their baptism. So we are going to have to spend some more time with them this week to help them out with that.

Well that's all I got for this week, hopefully we will be able to start seeing things happen with Patricia and the member referals this week to help speed up the work here. But I'm happy and I'm good and me and my comp have cualquier animo to work this week and to find and teach the Lord´s elect. I love you all and have a good week. CIAO!!!!

con amor, Elder Harper =)

I LEFT THAT MEETING FEELING LIKE I AM READY TO THE BEST MISSIONARY THIS WORLD HAS EVER SEEN, BESIDES ALMA AND AMMON AND ALL OF THOSE GUYS.

PAINTBALL ON P-DAY WITH THE ZONE

Hola hola!!!

Well first of all, it was absolutely wonderful talking to you guys yesterday. Yes technology is awesome because it's a lot better being able to see you and talk to you rather than with just a phone. And that was the last call home, next time I see you it will be in the airport a little more than two months from now. Wow that's a scary thought jaja because I thought that time flew way fast from the time we talked on Christmas until yesterday. But that's ok, I just have to make the very best of these 2 months that I have left.

Anyways moving on, we talked about a lot of stuff yesterday but we didn't really talk about the week at all so I will just go into that. Over all it was a strange week that turned out better than we though it was going to in the end. This Saturday we had this big open house in the church as a missionary activity in the chapel and we were way stoked about it. It had been in the planning for like a month and all of the auxiliary organizations put up stands in the cultural hall for their different organizations. So we basically spent most of our time this week doing 10 to 15 minute visits with all of the members, sharing an inspiring scripture and experience and then giving them invitations and commiting them to inviting their friends, family and neighbors. Everyone accepted invitations and everyone commited to inviting a bunch of people so we though that it was going to turn out awesome.

Saturday comes around and the ward organization in the assignments for the stands and everything was incredible. The ward mobilized and everyone followed through with their parts and the stands were awesome for the relief society, priesthood, youth and primary organizations. I know that organization and the execution in plans in our ward back home is normal, but I had never seen anything like it here in Chile. So that was the awesome part. The not so awesome part was that only seven investigators came, and two of those were eternal investigators that always come to the activities. Yeah I guess it could have been worse but we were still pretty bummed, especially since it took up the majority of our time this week. But that's ok, we learned from our mistakes and learned that the ward is capable of organizing and putting stuff together for future events.

Also on Thursday we had zone conference with all the zones here in the center of the mission and it took all day but it was one of the best conferences that I´ve been to in my whole mission. It was awesome and very inspiring. And we saw a talk that Elder Holland gave in the MTC in January that very well could be the most inspiring and just plain best talk I have ever heard on Missonary work or maybe even just in general. Yeah it was awesome and I left that meeting feeling like I am ready to be the best missionary this world has ever seen, besides Alma and Ammon and all of those guys.

So back to the open house. It was good I guess for the members but really disappointing, I had high expectations. We put all our chips in for our work time for the week in this activity, and we lost... So leaving it we were pretty bummed and just decided to spend the few hours of the day that were left going to contact the few future investigators that we found during the week. So we went to this single Mom´s house named Patricia who was friendly but said that she was busy but to come by another time. So we gifted her a picture, the famous picture of Christ in Gethsemani, and told her to read the explication on the back side and that we would explain what was happening there the next time we came by. She is a paramedic and has an unpredictable schedule but Saturday night after the activity we got lucky and found her at home and she let us in. We small talked for a little bit to find out a little more about her and then we told her to bring in the picure and we read the back together and started to talk about the atonement of Christ and the role it plays in God´s plan of Salvation.

As we talked, the spirit in the room grew when we told her that God has a plan of Happiness for us personally and that Christ is the center. But after I said the words ¨plan of happiness¨ she just started silently crying. Then she told us a little about her life and about the hardships that she has been going through with her kids and how she turned bitter against God and didn't want anything to do with him. She said that she talked to us the first time just to be polite but then something caught her attention about the picture we gave her. So she let us come back. Short story long she told us that she felt good seeing that picture and that hearing what we were saying made her feel even better. That she was stressed with life when we walked in but that while listening she just felt this huge load taken off her sholders and felt relaxed. We then identified that what she was feeling was the Spirit and explained a little how the spirit works. Now this Sunday she couldn't go to church because she had to go out of town to visit her Mom but she is extremely excited to learn more about the plan of salvation and to start her journey back to God after all this time in bitterness and unbelief. Due to her schedule it's going to be tough but I really feel that she is sincere and well it was the strongest that I had felt the spirit in a while. Yeah so I'm really excited for her.

Well in other news that's not quite as big of a deal is that today for P-day we went paintballing, our zone vs. the southern zone of Los Angeles. Jaja it was expensive but it was a blast!!!! I'll send a few pictures that my comp took on his camera. Well that's all I got for today. Elton is kind of stuck in a rut so we will see if we can get him to turn around this week or we might have to drop him. So I was really spiritually recharged this last week and even though it was awesome seeing you guys and talking to you I am stoked for these next two months I have to work here en la viña del Señor. Les amo y hasta luego!!!! CIAO!!!!!

con amor, Élder Harper