THANK YOU ALEX - ALEX TALKS TO RILEY

In Pitrufquen, Riley's first area, he made a good friend named Alex, who is the ward mission leader there. We are friends with Alex on Facebook so he was able to contact us to let us know Riley would be calling him. Riley was able to call Alex tonight using his cell phone. Apparently, Riley's cell is working within Chile, but he is not able to call the US. Here is what Alex reported:

i just talked with Riley!!!!he told me that he is fine, he lived in an 4th floor from an apartment in Talcahuanao, so, he felt very stronger the earthquake, but he is ok, and his apartment too, it wasn't destroyed, but he is living with 8 more missionaries in a member's house in the hill, he don't have light and water, but they are trying to finding it, the another members are helping them a lot, he don't have battery for this reason he couldn't call me before, aa, he told me that they are having their meetings but not in the chapel because it has very damaged, well, he doesn't know very much about Elder Heisen, but his zone leaders told him that Heisen is safe and good too. Well, it was that he told me, we couldn't talk very much because his battery was low, but i told him that you love him and i sent your strength , and he said that he love you very much, and he is very fine, safe, and happy because he is serving to the Lord, he said that, don't care for him, he is fine, and his Mission President will visit them tomorrow.

that is all for now, i'll follow informing you soon

bye family

(note from mom: the main thing that bothers me is Riley not having water, hopefully the mission president will take care of that tomorrow)

TALCAHUANO (where Riley is or was living and serving) AFTRER THE QUAKE AND TSUNAMI

A boat lies marooned on a street in Talcahuano, Chile, Monday, March 1, 2010. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday triggering a tsunami that hit coastal communities. (AP Photo/ Natacha Pisarenko)

Tsunami sweeps away entire towns on Chilean coast

By MICHAEL WARREN and ROBERTO CANDIA (AP)

TALCAHUANO, Chile — When the shaking stopped, Marioli Gatica and her extended family huddled in a circle on the floor of their seaside wooden home in this gritty port town, listening to the radio by a lantern's light.

They heard firefighters urging Talcahuano's citizens to stay calm and stay inside. They heard nothing of a tsunami — until it slammed into their house with an unearthly roar about an hour after Saturday's magnitude 8.8 quake.

Gatica's house exploded with water. She and her family were swept below the surface, swirling amid loose ship containers and other massive debris that smashed buildings into oblivion all around them.

"We were sitting there one moment and the next I looked up into the water and saw cables and furniture floating," Gatica said.

She clung to her 11-year-old daughter, Ninoska Elgueta, but the rush of water ripped the girl from her hands. Then the wave retreated as suddenly as it came.

Two of the giant containers crushed Gatica's home. A third landed seaward of where she floated, preventing the retreating tsunami from dragging her and other relatives away.

Soon Ninoska was back in her mother's arms — she had grabbed a tree branch to avoid being swept away and climbed down as soon as the sea receded.

Gatica's son, husband and 76-year-old father were OK as well, as were her sister and her family. The only relative missing was her 76-year-old mother, Nery Valdebenito, Gatica said as she waited in a hundreds-long line outside a school to report her losses.

"I think my mother is trapped beneath" the house, Gatica said.

As she spoke, firefighters with search dogs were examining the ruins of her home blocks away. Minutes later, the group leader drew his finger across his neck: No one alive under the house.

Such horrors abound along the devastated beach communities of Chile's south-central coast, which suffered the double tragedy Saturday of the earthquake and the tsunami it caused. Of the quake's 723 victims, most were in the wine-growing Maule region that includes Talcahuano, now a mud-caked, ravaged town of 180,000 just north of Concepcion.

Close to 80 percent of Talcahuano's residents are homeless, with 10,000 homes uninhabitable and hundreds more destroyed, said Mayor Gaston Saavedra.

"The port is destroyed. The streets, collapsed. City buildings, destroyed," Saavedra said.

MY LETTER TO RILEY

We still have not heard from Riley nor have received any new information. I thought I would post my letter I emailed to him yesterday on his P-day just in case he would be able to read it.

Hi Riley,

What an experience you have been having in Chile?!!!! We first heard about the earthquake from Jenna at 10:40ish pm CA time Friday evening after we came home from Road Show. Our Cable channels are limited so we could not find any information on the tv. We were scouring the internet but since it had just happened the only substantial information we could find was a live stream from a Chilean station. Needless to say, we could not understand hardly anythingof what they were saying and it was still dark in Chile so there was no visible video feed from outside.

We were so worried. We did know that you, in Talcahuano, were pretty much right at the epicenter. What was going through my mind was TSUNAMI AND RILEY LIVES DIRECTLY ON A PENINSULA RIGHT AT THE EPICENTER. I was so so so so so worried!!!! I have heard horror stories from past Tsunami victims and I was thinking Talcahuano is going to be taken out by a huge Tsunami wave and Riley will have no warning. I, we, were all so scared. We immediately gathered for

family prayer. It was a tough night but Dad and I did feel somewhat calm. I felt so much better when the threat of Tsunami had passed. I do know that Talcahuano was hit with an 8 foot Tsunami surge and we saw pictures online that showed the damage. Underneath it all, we had a calming feeling and were grateful. Still, we were on tremendous edge and anxiety for almost an entire 24 hours until Concepcion South mission finally reported (way after all the other missions did!) that you all were safe and accounted for. We were so happy and relieved to finally hear those words. We and many others were calling into church headquarters every 30 to 60 minutes getting updates.

We received so many texts, emails and phone calls from family and friends who were so concerned about you. MANY PRAYERS WERE SENT TO HEAVEN PLEADING FOR YOUR SAFETY! It was comforting to know how many people love you and our family and how much support we have. Let's just say there were many relieved and happy people when we finally heard the news we were waiting for. "All the missionaries from Concepcion South are safe and accounted for." We got the message while our phones were on silent because we were in Road Show performances. Grandma Joycie, Aunt Katie and President Zundel all left those messages for us and then we called Church Head Quarters immediately to confirm. So, at the beginning of Road Show, they announced that we had still not heard that you were safe and prayed in your behalf and mid through Road Show they were happily able to announce that you were accounted for and safe. Derek made those announcements. That must have been a huge miraculous undertaking in itself considering no power, phone lines down, roads and bridges destroyed, huge aftershocks etc... etc..... etc.... Your mission president and Heavenly Father sure do love you. You are well taken care of and that is SO COMFORTING AND REASSURING to me, as your mother.

We so look forward to actually hearing from you but know it might be a little while until you are able to do so because of power issues, etc... The news has been reporting how amazing and prepared Chile has been. Chileans are no strangers to earthquakes and were extremely well prepared with much expertise, experience, technology, etc... We look forward to hearing YOUR actual EARTHQUAKE experience and story, Elder Riley Harper's story.You were chosen to come to Chile at this time as a missionary of the Lord and you are having and will continue to have some rich and amazing unique experiences. I am sure your mission now, at least for awhile, will include gloves and a shovel. What amazing missionary opportunities are coming your way!!!

We are so blessed and grateful for your safety, for all of our missionaries' safety! Our prayers have been answered. Our family is holding a special fast today,Sunday, in behalf of you, the missionaries and the people of Chile. Baylor was fasting for you all day yesterday up until Road Show, when I finally made him eat.Can't wait to hear from you. Be careful and safe. Continue serving the people of Chile. I know you love them.You are so loved!! I love you Riley. Take Care, Go forth and serve and Be Strong!

LOVE, Tu Mama (and very happy, thrilled and blessed to be so)

RILEY IS SAFE!

Hi everybody,

Riley and all the missionaries are safe!!!   Collective Sigh of Relief.

They have no power or water and the missionaries are gathering together in safe apartments.  As soon as they have the capability to do so, they will be able to send home an email.  I will post it as soon as we get it.

Thanks again for all of your love, concern and support.

Michelle and Tom

email from Michelle regarding Riley and the earthquake in Chile

I thought I would send out a quick email out since we have been receiving many calls asking about Riley.

Unfortunately, the phones are down and the church has not been able to communicate with Riley's mission, Concepcion South.  We are relieved that the Tsunami threat for Chile is over now since he is actually living at the epicenter on a peninsula, Talcahuano.

Thanks for everybody's love and concern and I will send out an update as soon as we hear anything.  Needless to say we are very worried but have also felt a sense of peace that he is ok.

Michelle


to add to Michelle's words...
Let's be mindful of Riley, the Harper family and all those affected by the earthquake and remember all in our prayers. 

I KNOW I SAY THIS LIKE EVERY WEEK BUT MAN, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

HOLA HOLA!!!

Well Monday has come once again. Time really does fly here on the mission and it just keeps gaining speed which is scary. Another cambio is coming to a close, just one week left and we will know what the cambios are on Saturday. And I´ve been in Chile for almost six months now! Which means almost 8 months in the mission. I can´t even believe it, it feels like I was entering the MTC yesterday… Well that's enough of that now, I´ll tell you about my week. Once again it was a bitter-sweet week but this time mostly sweet, haha its never boring here in Chile.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday it rained, which was kind of a bummer because when it's raining in the middle of summer people just don't come outside or open their doors to us. And all of our citas fell through both Tuesday and Wednesday so it was hard to work effectively. If it was just for the rain it wouldn't have been so hard been I also came down with strep throat so I wasn't really able to eat or talk very much for a while either. But it's not raining anymore now and the strep is improving so No worries :).

And it was ok because we had the baptism of the Margarita on Saturday! Yay! But because her schedule is complicated it had to be at 10 in the morning so besides us four missionaries, there were only six other members of the ward there. And none of her children family showed up, so that was a little hard for her even though she told us she was not surprised that they didn't show. Even though not many people showed, her best friend that introduced her to us and is a strong member of the church came and that seemed like it was enough for Margarita. So it was a small and short service but it went well. I was a little worried because she weighs like about 300 pounds (not even kidding) and my 5 foot 5 comp baptized her but it went fine and she didn't drown in the font because he was able to lift her back up haha.

So I was happy and content about the baptism but a little frustrated as well on Saturday night about the lack of support for the baptism, but mostly about how all of our best investigators were dying and it looked like we weren´t going to be able to bring anyone to church on Sunday. But we had a cita with a contact we had made last week at like 8 oclock so we went to that but weren't really that hopefully about it. The contact had been with a Mom who seemed slightly interested in the gospel but she told us her daughter might be more interested in hearing us so we set the cita (appointment) to meet with her and her daughter.

So when we got to the cita Saturday night, the daughter answered the door and told us that her mom was busy but that we could talk to her. So we gave her a little 5 minute run down of the restoration right there on the door step and she liked it and asked us if she could go to church with us because she always passes it in the street and has always wanted to go inside but was to embarrased to do so. At this point my jaw dropped because no one ever asks us if they can come to church with us. So we were pretty stoked, but when we got to the house Sunday morning to pick her up, we heard her arguing with her dad inside which made us worry. But like 10 minutes later she stormed out of the house and said let's go so we went. She was crying and it took a while to calm her down but I was very impressed that she wanted to go bad enough despite the disapproval of her father.

Church went well even though I was way nervous because I had to give a talk (my first talk in sacrament meeting in Chile) but it went well and the spirit helped me with what I needed to say. After church, when we were walking Wendy (the investigator) back to her house, she told us that she wanted to get baptized and to not worry about her Dad because their parents are divorced and her dad was just visiting from Santiago for the weekend. So we set a baptismal date for the 13th of March and we are going to her house to teach her more tomorrow.

It's moments like those that make you feel very small and cause you to really marvel at the perfection of the plan and power of God. Because we didn't really do anything, she was ready when we knocked on her door. Things like that make you feel really humble and even unworthy. Because after all of our work for the week, on Saturday night we were left without any progressing or new investigators. But the lord truly does lead us to those who are prepared. You just got to have faith and patience. It's really hard to maintain faith and to have patience, it's much easier said then done but I´m working on it and the Lord is helping me in what I lack. Haha I know I say this like every week but man I love being a missionary! Well I've got to go, but I love you guys and keep looking for those missionay moments back at home. You never know who is ready to hear the gospel.

Con amor, Élder Harper :)

p.s. good luck Dad and Baylor with Lacrosse this season!

And thank you very very much for the package. You guys are really too much it felt like Christmas all over again. So thanks very much for the package the house and the other missionaries in the house say thanks for the candy as well haha. Chao!

WHEN YOU'RE TRYING AND DOING WHAT YOU CAN AND YOU STILL CAN'T MAKE IT, THE LORD SURPRISES YOU AND MAKES UP FOR THE REST.

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!

Well it sounds like everything is going good way up there in the states. Things are going well here although the last week was... hectic. Very hectic. Well anyways the end of the week was a little hectic but the beginning was just pretty normal. Nothing too exciting happening. Wednesday were entrevistas, which went well. Actually, there isn't really anything interesting to report from entrevistas. President didn't say anything about whether I´d move up or not. He just told me how I was feeling about my progress as a missionary. And about moving up, he just said that we will see. I´m really fine with whatever happens at this point. Another cambio as comp menor or getting moved up, either one works for me. I´m just here doing my work and I´ll let the president and the assistants worry about my cambio.

Speaking of the assistants, they kind of messed up big time last week. On Friday I got a call from the office asking what our address was because they are updating all of the records and while I was on the phone with the office I thought that I´d ask about my passport and visa and about some nice handmade 60 custom leather scripture case holders that I got because I was supposed to get this stuff a while ago. When they went to go look for them they realized that like 5 scripture cases and 5 visas and passports were stolen out of the assistants truck because it looks like they had forgotten to lock it. The poor hermana in charge of all the papers for foreign missionaries about had a heart attack. We found out later that those whose passports and visas were stolen were going to have to make a trip up to Santiago to take care of a bunch of paper work and fix the big mess. But luckily a day later a missionary in a different part of Talcahuano called the mission office telling them that he had all the passports and visas except one. It turns out that a policeman just stopped him on the street and asked if the passports belonged to him or any of his friends because he had found them just tossed away laying in the street. So I have my papers and I don't have to go to Santiago! Yay! Unfortunately, my leather cases are still missing but that's life. Things of the world can be replaced.

Other than that fiasco, it was a pretty sleepy week. We haven't found any new people to teach in quite awhile so we have just been trying new methods of finding people. Looking through the reports of old investigators in the area book who never got baptized, visiting innactives. Stuff like that coupled with contacts of course. It hasn't resulted yet but we will see. We just gotta work harder and have faith and patience.

When Sunday came around it was a very bitter sweet day. Unfortunately, mostly bitter but there was definitely a lot of sweet. All of our best investigators didn't show up. We went to this one house of this family that we´ve been teaching, who we thought for sure were going to come, to pick them up. The Dad wants to get baptized but isn't married yet and the kid really wants to get baptized. The 9 year old kid reads the Book of Mormon and always listens intently when we teach. Then we always play Uno or Jenga with him after the lessons. They have flaked on us every week but this week the Dad promised his son that he would take him to church and he promised us as well. When we went to get them Sunday morning the grandpa told us that the Dad went out last night upset and angry and still hadn't come back. It looks like he went out and got drunk. And the kid was asleep and the grandpa wouldn't wake him up because he said it was the Dad's responsibility to bring him. It totally broke my heart that this kid wants to progress and get baptized but his Dad, who's a little messed up, is keeping him from receiving the gospel. So I was way bummed but was cheered up a little to find an investigator already there that wasn't really progressing at all. And in church she told us that she decided that she wants to get baptized. So we have a baptism for this Saturday! I guess when you're trying and doing what you can and you still can't make it, the Lord surprises you and makes up for the rest. :). So I´m about out of time this week but I´ll let you know how Margarita´s baptism goes next week. I love you all and remember... Haz lo Justo! Chao!


Elder Harper :)

THE LORD WILL BRING THOSE HE HAS PREPARED TO US IN HIS TIME, NOT OURS

Hello everybody!

That's weird that you guys got the email so late last week, wonder what happened? Well it sounds like your guys´s week was pretty good. Except for Bay and Dad's Super Bowl Sunday jajaja. I didn't even realize that it was Super Bowl Sunday yesterday until I read the email. Nobody cares here except some of the gringo missionaries. Here everybody is waiting with anticipation for the world cup that's coming up in June. Well as far as my week went it started out alright but didn't end up so well. We are working hard but it looks like we aren't working hard enough because none of our investigators showed up on Sunday. A few of them had valid excuses but with the others I don't know what's up with them. I guess we will find out tomorrow. I thought that we had found some good new investigators last week. We will have to see what's up tomorrow. I think we just have to be more cara de palo (stern faced? Im not sure, ask brother baker) with them.

I think we need to try some new methods of finding people and immunizar (don't know what that means, ask bro baker) our investigators better. But in the end if we are giving our all, I can't blame ourselves too much, because in the end it's their choice. They have to decide whether or not they have the courage and faith to do what it takes to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, obtain an eternal family and the keys to enter the kingdom of God. It's just so plain, simple, and clear to me that I don't understand how anyone could not accept the simple truth. I just need to work harder, because you can always work harder and have patience. Because the Lord will bring those he has prepared to us in his time, not ours.

This coming Wednesday we have entrevistas and I imagine I´ll find out there whether or not I´m going to move up to compañero mayor. I dont feel ready but I just need to have more confidence and faith in myself and in the Lord. I know I can do it but I´m just too comfortable being comp menor haha, but I know that I could grow a lot if I´m moved up this next cambio. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Things are going pretty well with my companion, he's very stubborn and sarcastic but despite that we are getting along haha. But there are some weird things about him and things that he does and has done that I´m going to have to talk to him about today or tomorrow but it's nothing big. But even though it's not huge, if we are not obedient, we are not going to see as much success as we could have. I know I´m not perfect but there are still some things I'm going to have to talk to him about that we are going to have to change.

Let's see... some interesting things that happened this week were that it rained just out of the blue on Saturday. It caught us completely off gaurd because it's the middle of summer. So we got soaked, but hey that's life. Oh, and today was a lot of fun. We went on like a 1 or 2 mile hike through the forrest to get to the beach where we hung out with the whole zone for the day. We played ultimate frisby and soccer. It just felt great being on the beach even though we couldn't go in the water.

Well even though the last week wasn't great, I'm done feeling bad about it and I'm ready to start this next week with new energy and a thirst to baptize :). We´ve got half of the cambio left and I´m going to make it as good as I can because it very well be my last three weeks until I´m behind the wheel in the sector. Les quiero mucho y siempre acuerden, HAZ LO JUSTO!!!! A.k.a. Do the righteous :) CHAO!

con cariño, Élder Harper :)

I'M A SOLDIER ON THE FRONT LINES IN THE FORCES OF OUR GOD AND KING AND I AM PROUD TO SERVE

Hey Hey Hey! How's it goin everybody!?

Well, this last week in Talcahuano was alright. Wasn´t my best week ever but it was alright. It was very busy because we had the conference of the North Zones on Tuesday with Presidente and then on Wednesday we had our weekly zone/district conference and then on Thursday weekly planning in the morning and then Friday morning I had to go to the mission office in Concepción to deliver my passport because my visa is finally ready. In short, we didn't have nearly as much time to work this week as usual. We had one good day where we found a ton of people that are good but unfortunately only one of them showed up to church on Sunday :( But we have appointments with the ones that didn't show up tomorrow, so we will see how it goes there and we are going to work on some strategies to help them to go to church haha. They all say they want to get baptized and tell us that they´ll be there Sunday morning but they are either too lazy to get up or they are just stringing us along. So we will see what's up with all of them tomorrow.

Anyways, as far as P-days go, there is a lot to do here in Talcahuano. Today we went to the mall of Concepción (which is pretty dang big and actually in Talcahuano) and we ate some good food and did some bowling with a bunch of other missionaries. It was a lot of fun but I´m really not good at bowling. Don't worry I took video :) As far as the house situation, it's fun to have six missionaries in the house but the apartment is absolutely tiny and it's an absolute mess. We also have to do our own laundry in this house (we have a washing machine but no dryer) so there are always clothes hanging all over the place drying and food everywhere because we only have like 2 tiny cupboards. So even though it's been fun and all, it's time for them to go and it looks like 2 of them are moving on Wednesday. So in a couple of days it will go to being four in the house, which will be more comfortable haha.

Well as I´m gaining more knowledge in the scriptures and getting better at understanding and speaking spanish, the more my testimony grows that it is really the spirit that does the converting. My companion knows a lot of scripture and I´m learning so we can basically overwhelm anybody with scripture and help the Evangelicos, testigos, catolicos, adventistas and whatever other religion that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only church on the earth that has the full gospel of Jesus Christ as found in the scriptures. But if their heart is not open and the spirit isn't there, then all the facts, the logic and the scripture mean nothing. Eyes and hearts can only be opened to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ through testimony, faith and the spirit. Scripture only works if they actually have a desire to learn and discover the truth and the spirit is there. So we are trying to work harder to find those people whose hearts and minds are open, the people that really want to learn and who have been prepared by the Lord. Luckily, as ordained representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ we can be blessed with the gift of discernment. So right now I´m focusing on better obtaining and using that gift.

Well that's pretty much all I´ve got for you guys this week. Before I go I just want everyone to know that I love my God and His son Jesus Christ. I have an imperfect but strong testimony that La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Dias is the only true church of God that has all the keys and authority to perform saving ordinances and seal families together forever. I know that we can only be saved through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can only fully use the atonement of Jesus Christ through faith, repentance, baptism by immersion by the proper authority for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is bestowed also through the proper authority. With these blessings we can endure to the end. And that's why I am here. To teach people how they can use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to start on the road to salvation and eternal life. I´m a soldier on the front lines in the forces of our God and King and I am proud to serve.

Con amor, Élder Harper :)

p.s. for the last request i might have already said it but Another pair of black dickies that have that pocket on the side of the leg :)

p.s.p.s. I already sent an email but thank you very much Uncle Lary and Aunt Erika for the care package! I loved it, especially the cards from the kids haha. Thank you very much. And also thank you Tanners and Hansen´s for your packages. They were greatly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed :)

WELL, I WANT ALL YOU GUYS TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU AND THAT I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY

Riley has been trasferred and it sounds like he is enjoying his new area.

Hopefully I will have pictures up next week. He sent home an SD card that had been corrupted some how and Brett Bruschke is trying to help us out with recovering the photos. I hope....I hope....I hope.....! : ) Here is Riley's letter.

Hola hola hola!!!

Well My first week here in Talcahuano was pretty good. One thing is, it's not nearly as hot as Los Angeles and it's nice and breezy almost all of the time. I think Talcahuano has developed a little since Uncle Gary knew it. Now it's a fairly big city that goes from the top of the penninsula all the way down to Conce. Yes, it does smell really bad and fishy down by the port but my sector is up in the hills so we get plenty of breezes but luckily none of the smell. The hills are a pain sometimes but I actually like it because it's more like home in California and because there our dozens of different gorgeous views of Talcahuano, Concepción, and the ocean all around the sector. It's funny seeing poor rundown places with beautiful hill top ocean views haha.

The living situation is a little complicated at the moment. My companion and I actually just opened the sector Centinela 2 this cambio and there were already four missionaries in the house, so for the moment there are six missionaries in a tiny tiny two room apartment. It's the smallest house I´ve had yet and as of right now there isn't much room but it looks like the missionaries in sector San Vicente found another house so the house should be back to 4 missionaries in a week or so.

The general rule of the missionaries in this sector is that we don't tract too long passed sundown in a lot of the areas because some of them are pretty flaite and a little dangerous past 8:30 or so. But not all of the poblaciones are like that but still we try to have segure citas set for 8:30 and after.

My companion is pretty cool, his name is Élder Sanchez from Nicaragua and he's only been here for two more cambios than me. I actually knew him from my zone in Nueva Tolten when I was in Pitruf but I didn't get to know him all that well because he was quiet and I didn't really speak spanish all that well haha. Now he's not quiet at all. In fact I find it hard to get a word in during contacts and lessons. He´s also a little intense with investigators and contacts sometimes but overall he seems like a good missionary. It always takes a little while to learn the style of your companion and mesh his style of working with yours. We worked hard doing contacts most of the week and are trying to find new investigators. We have some already but a few of them were out of town this week so I will be meeting them this week. Apparently the ones I don't know yet are close to baptism but we will see this next week.

As far as I can tell so far, all the members are very nice and they will actually come out to work with us more than in Galvarino so I´m excited for that. Our ward mission leader served his mission in Los Angeles ,California and he always talks to me about how much he misses Mexican food and In-N-Out. Which always makes me miss it haha but it's all good because the members feed us well here from what I can tell so far.

As far as the Spanish goes, I understand like 95 percent of everything now but I hadn't realized how far that I´ve progressed until this cambio because now we have a brand new gringo in the same house and actually in the same ward as us too. I still got a long way to go but haha man, I´ve come a long way in the past 4 and a half months and I´m excited to improve more with my spanish and my chileno this coming cambio.

Well that's really all I got for this week. This cambio is going to go by fast because most likely it will be my last cambio as junior companion. Maybe I´ll get lucky and get another one as junior but it doesn't look like it so I´m going to kick it into high gear this cambio with the language but especially with the finding and teaching and testifying so I can be ready for whatever comes my way this coming cambio. Well, I want all you guys to know that I love you and that I love being a missionary. Until next week chao!

Su misionero coasteño, Élder Harper :)

SHE THOUGHT GOD HAD BEEN PREPARING HER ALL HER LIFE TO HEAR THIS MESSAGE FROM THE MISSIONARIES

Hola familia y amigos!

Well overall this last week wasn't as good as it could have been but it was a lot better than the last week haha. It's still really tough with the summer and all but we did a lot of working to find new people last week and we could have worked harder but we did find one great family who has a lot of potential. When we did the contact we just talked to the 16 year old daughter and we set an appointment to teach her and her family a couple of days later. She seemed more interested in me being a gringo than in the gospel so we weren't really all excited about it but hey it was an appointment.

When we got there we ended up teaching her and her mom and it was awesome. During the course of the lesson we found out that her 25 year old daughter was murdered by an ex boyfriend a few years ago and left behind two grandchildren that she now takes care of. A lot of the family stopped believing in God but she grew closer to God after the incident and started crying when we taught her how families can be sealed together forever and not just until death do you part like the rest of the churches of the world teach. She told us that she thought God had being preparing her all her life to hear this message from the missionaries. Then some other stuff happened that was awesome but I´ll have to wait until the end of my mission to tell the rest of the story. She doesn't understand everything and has a lot of questions but I´m really excited for that family to progress.

Also Santiago, our Uruguayan, finally came back from Uruguay with his family on Monday. POR FIN!!! He went right back to hanging out with the kids in the ward and he his still hungry to learn and prepare for baptism. He is very humble and what I would consider a golden investigator. We just teach him and he accepts everything like he had known it all along but just had forgotten it. His mom told us she won't let him get baptized until he absolutely knows it's true but he his coming along well and we wants to get baptized on the 19th of Febrero and we plan on asking his mom about the fecha (date) this coming week. So a lot of our investigators that we thought were good have ¨died¨ but now finally the cream is rising to the top and we are separating the wheat from the chaff :)

Santiago (Galvarino)

The only problem is that we got a call from the zone leaders Saturday night and 
I´m leaving Los Ángeles tomorrow morning. Yep I´m getting transfered! Kind of a bummer but if Santiago wants me to baptize him I might be able to get permission to go back to LA for the baptism. So Elder Tapias is going to train a greenie here in Galvarino and I´m bound for the sector Centinela 2 in Talcahuano. Talcahuano is the peninsula part of Concepción and from what I´ve heard my sector is the ¨cerros¨which supposedly is the ghetto part of Talcahuano and even más flayte than my sector right now. Ugh I´m not going to lie I´m kind of sick of flaytes but it is right on the ocean so I will get to see the ocean again :) And I´m not going to let anyone phase me with what they say about where I´m going because I don't even know it yet. The ghetto just means more humble people so I´m excited to work there. I´m sad to leave, especially with Santiago here but President Swenson knows best and so it is time for me to go. Oh and I´m getting another newbie for a companion. He´s only been here 2 or 3 cambios more than me and this is going to be his first cambio as copañero mayor. His name is Élder Sanchez and he's from Nicaragua. He was in my zone in Nueva Tolten and he was very very quiet then but who knows now, maybe he´s changed. Even if not I don't care. I know that we will get along just fine.

Well I´m just about out of time now. I got to go finish mi despedida (saying goodbye) to all my converts and a few others from the ward that I´m going to miss. So until next week I love you all and Chou!

Con cariño, Élder Harper :)

Familia Román (Galvarino)

Hermana Lydia (Galvarino)

WORDS WERE PUT INTO MY MOUTH AND I BORE POWERFUL TESTIMONY TO HIM OF HOW MY MISSION IS BLESSING MY LIFE

Hola familia y amigos!

Well let's see what happened this week. There have been worse weeks but this last one definitely wasn't one of the best. Wednesday we had entrevistas (interviews) with the President and that was good. I got to talk to Sister Swenson and President Swenson and that's always good. Then the zone was capacitated by the zone leaders and the assistants and they came down on us to make good goals for this new year and to kick things up a notch to realize our goals. During the entrevistas President asked me what my goals were short term and long term and he asked me how I was doing on my preparation to become companion mayor (senior comp). We talked for a little bit and he told me that it looks like none of us from my group have to go up yet but that if we don't subir ( umm...go up? Something like that) to comp mayor this cambio then it will for sure be the next one. So that's a sigh of relief but at the same time I still have to kick it into overdrive to be prepared. He also said that it looks like I might stay with E´Tapias in Galvarino for another cambio but he´s not sure yet. Nothing is for sure until the call comes for the cambios Saturday night, so we will see.

The same day as the entrevistas, in the night we did intercambios with the assistants so that was good working with a veteran missionary and learning from him. As far as how my companion and I are getting along, for the most part good, but he is very sensitive and very moody. His animo and moods change really easily and I don't know what to do about it. Like on Saturday, he accidently used the Lord's name in vain (remember he's still a pretty new convert) and then he got all mad and wouldn't talk to me and was desanimo´d for a good few hours after. If we are going to be together another cambio there are a lot of things we need to work on with his mood problems, my sarcasm (he gets offended easily with sarcasm) and just how we work together. We are working well but the summer is killing us and we need to change some things with how we work if we are going to have success this summer. We have a lot of investigators but because of the cosecha (fruit harvest) and vacaciones they are all dying. We found some new good investigators last week and on Thursday we planned to bring 10 to church with us Sunday but when we went to go get them Sunday they were either gone, or no one answered the door and so we had no one with us Sunday. Whenever you have a week with nobody it's quite a blow to the animo but you just got to pick yourself back up, analyze what happened the last week, and go out and work harder the next week to make sure it doesnt happen again.

There are also a few good members and families going innactive right before our eyes and we are trying to get them reanimo´d about the church and we haven't really seen results from our efforts yet but we are working on that. It was really sad, on Saturday we stopped by the house of a strong family who´s 19 year old son was getting ready to go on a mission. When we got to the house it was just him there and after talking for a while we discovered that him and his Dad have been fighting a lot the last few months and that he's been thinking of moving out and using his mission money to pay rent. And he also told us that he had stopped praying and reading the scriptures and was losing his testimony and that he didn't really want to go to church anymore either. We talked for a while and words were put into my mouth and I bore powerful testimony to him of how my mission is blessing my life and how I couldn't imagine where I would be if I hadn't gone out and everyone felt the spirt. He told us that he would start praying again and that he would try to get back on the right track again but sometimes no matter what you do, no matter how much you want to help and testify the person still chooses another path. I just wanted to slap him upside the head and show him how much of a blessing and life changing thing a mission is but I can't force him to open his eyes and see the light. He has to make the decision for himself and so we will keep working with him and see where it goes.

Haha well I think that I´ve rambled enough for this week and even though this week wasn't all that great, I learned a lot about how to connect with people better, how to better use the spirit, and other things as well and I´m going to make sure to use the things that I´ve learned and make this next week better.

Well it sounds like all is well with everyone at home which is always good to hear. Bueno tengo que ir hora entonces hasta que el proximo lunes, les quiero harto y chao!


Con amor, Élder Harper :)

p.s. I´m not in a rush for the movies dont worry, but another request I have for when you do send them is a rubicks cube. A real rubicks cube, like from the brand rubicks cube haha I´ll explain later.

HORSES ARE MADE FOR RIDING AND NOT EATING. I HOPE THAT YOU ALL MADE PLENTY OF GOALS TO GROW CLOSER TO YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST THIS YEAR

Hola querida familia y amigos,

Yay the holidays are over!!!! Haha here in Chile the holidays are so bad for the work. Everyone and their dog leaves for the campo or the rio which is in the campo after Christmas and after New Years. New Years wasn´t too exciting. It was very hard to work and we spent New Year's Eve in a member's house eating dinner and stuff (holidays are the only times they have dinner ever) until 11 and then we went back home. My companion fell asleep promptly at 1130 so we had fun waking him up with the party poppers you sent me at midnight. We also had fun with the glow sticks haha you´ll see what I did with those in the next sd card I send home (yes i finally sent the first one home today).

New years day Los Ángeles was a ghost town until like 6 in the afternoon. Everyone was either inside sleeping off a hangover or at one of the 5 or so rivers or the waterfall somewhat close to the city. So we weren´t able to do too much except divisions with the zone leaders. As far as the work went, this last week was not very eventful at all. Almost all of our investigators (except the Uruguayo who comes home this week) have either ¨died¨ or at least are not going to get baptized this cambio because they´ve taken off for the summer. So this next week we are going to work hard to keep the ones we still have and work hard on finding as well. It's been really tough losing people, especially when you know how much they need what we have to offer them in their lives but what can you do? You feel sad but then you got to brush it off and press on to find those who are ready to listen, learn, progress, change and get baptized.

The mission actually as a whole right now is changing its culture slowly. It used to baptize a ridiculous amount of people but activity wasn´t all that great. Now we are not baptizing nearly as many but retention has gone through the roof. There are a lot of innactives in Chile and so we´ve taken alot of time now that the work has slowed down with investigators in reactivation and I think we are going to see some sucess with that pretty soon.

So anyways, this P-day was pretty fun. My companion and I and the zone leaders went to the Salto de Laja, which is this huge waterfall in this nice forresty area and that was a lot of fun. I tried Charqui, which is jerky of horse meat, and it was not good. Horses are made for riding and not eating I decided and I hope Izzie isn't too disgusted that I tried horse meat, haha sorry Iz! But I got some good pictures, if I have time I´ll try to email you guys a few of them. As far as my spanish is coming, it's coming but I still have a long way to go until fluency. I can say pretty much anything I want to now but a lot of times it's with choppy grammar. But the point is is that I´m getting there. I´m learning a lot of chileno as well haha. Its' kind of funny actually because I know more chilenismos then my companion and he´s been in the mission for 9 months and he's latino. But I guess that's what happens after almost 3 months in a flaite sector of the mission. Now he´s trying to ¨fix¨ my spanish haha. Pero na´ que ver, mi castellano e´ bien po! Tal vez e´ chanta pal resto de mundo pero a los chilenos les gusta, ellos creen que es bacán. Yo soy ma´ chileno que los porrotos ahora les digo. Y ma´ encima hay que embrecer la cultura po! Entonce´ mi compañero e´ medio enfermo del mate si el cree que yo necesito corregir mi español.

Well I´ve got a lot of goals for this new year and they aren´t exactly easy to reach but hey goals aren´t supposed to be easy to reach and I´m excited to get going on them al tiro (right away). I hope that all of you had a great new year and that you all made plenty of goals to grow closer to your lord and savior Jesus Christ this year. Well I got to go pero les quiero muchos, a todos pero especialmente mi familia, y también FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!! Ya listo, chao!


Con amor, Élder Harper :)

ONE OF THEM DIDN'T LIKE THAT SO MUCH AND AS I PASSED GRABBED MY BACKPACK

¡¡¡HOLA TODOS!!!

Well Christmas is over but it was a good one here in Chile. Very different but good nonetheless. My favorite part though would definitely have to be talking to you guys though. It was awesome hearing the whole family and just hearing your voices and talking to you guys on Christmas day. My favorite Christmas gift by far :) even though I did love and thoroughly enjoy all of the Christmas gifts in my package and thank you very much for them. My companion and I are enjoying our dulces and I've already used the laminated visual aids you've made me a bunch of times. Oh and everyone in the house is jealous of the pijamas haha. Well on the phone it sounded like all of you guys are doing great and that you had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas - Familia Gutierrez (Galvarino)

Not too much has happened since I talked to you guys on Christmas. The partially raw Turkey decided to bother my stomach for a little longer but now its almost back to normal. It was fun celebrating la noche buena with families in the ward. My family already knows but for everyone else here in Chile they celebrate Christmas at 12 oclock midnight Christmas day. They eat a huge Cena Navideña (christmas dinner) at 12 and then afterwards open all their presents. Then celebrate until like 3 in the morning and then sleep in until like 3 in the afternoon Christmas day. As missionaries we obviously couldnt stay out that long so a family in the ward invited us to cenar at 1030 and we got home by like 12ish which was still late but what can ya do.

Then Christmas day we had a zone activity where we watched a movie and ate, and then after I talked to the fam, and after that we went and visited an hermana viejita in the ward to keep her company and take once because she was alone on Christmas day and feeling sad. But fortunately we were able to cheer her up abit :)

As far as the work goes it's tough and we are loosing good investigators left and right but we still have a few good ones that whent to church yesterday and still want to be baptized. So we didn't get our white Christmas but we have a few baptisms coming up in a few weeks here. Two of them are a brother and sister (Cecilia age 17 and Juan age 15) and they are great. They are now friends with most of the jovenes in the ward and Juan wants to get baptized as soon as he can and even talks about wanting to serve a mission in the future. Cecilia is moving a little slower than her brother but she is progressing as well and I think she'll catch up to her brother pretty soon here. The familia Godoy which was great just got into the fruteria business and now they have to go work in the campo Sunday mornings so its looking like they wont be able to continue to progress which is sad but it happens. We have some other good ones too but none of them came to church yesterday so today and tomorrow my companion and I have to make some rounds to see what happened. Besides that we're just knocking doors and trying to find new people.

This weekend is going to be tough though because el año nuevo is bigger than Christmas is here and there where alot of drunks out on Christmas which means Friday will be terrible. Oh and that brings up another story before I let you all go. So my back pack had a little rip in it before Christmas but it was'nt really that big of a deal. But going back to the house on Christmas day we ran into a group of drunk flaites. They all started asking for money and as usual I ignored them. One of them didnt like that so much and as I passed grabbed my backpack. I kind of just tried to shove him off without angering him further but it turned out unnessary because his friends told him to lay off. All in all the situation wasn't a big deal except that the little punk made the little rip in my back pack alot bigger. Which means I either A. have to give it a try with a needle and thread, B. ask an hermana to help me fix it, or B. Buy a new one. I think the most promising option looks like B. so I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes haha.

Well that's all I've got today but I hope that all of you guys are having fun up in Arizona with the viejito mañoso and grandma oh and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GRANDMA AND PAPA!!! Love you all very much and until next week chou y prospero año nuevo!!

con mucho amor, Élder Harper :)

p.s. Una nota para todos que hablan español y leen mis emails. Mi Padre grabó una parte de la conversación que tuvi con ellos en el dia de la navidad y me pidió para dar mi testimonio en español durante la grabación. Pero yo estaba muy emocionado y estaba un poco nervioso también entonces yo quiero advertirles que el castellano en el tesimonio es muy fome. Como bien bien malo y chanta. Y ahora yo tengo vergüenza porque yo creo que el va a poner la grabación en el blog. Entonces perdonen el español y les prometo que en realidad es mejor que el ejemplo en la grabación. Y eso es todo. Ya, listo, chou!