SHE SAID THAT WHEN SHE CAME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH SHE WOULD BE BAPTIZED

I had a bad case of the flu the whole week and am finally just now starting to get over it. Despite being sick all week we still found some new investigators that might have potential. We found one investigator who is really awesome but unfortunately she does not live here. We found her when we traveled to one of the far fringes of the pueblo, that I had never been to before, really close to the river. There we did some contacts and then followed this road that ended leading up this hill to a really old historical spanish fort that was built in the 1600´s. We walked around a little to check it out, but not being familiar with the area, we decided to head back down and figure out where we were so we could head back into town. On the way down this girl stopped us and in English asked us if she could practice her English with us. We said of course so she started walking and just talking in English with us. As we were getting near the end of the walk, after we had gotten to know her a little bit, we started talking with her about the church and her religious background. She told us that she goes to an Evangelical (protestant) church but that she doesn't buy into it much because a lot of what they do isn't in agreement with the Bible. So we told her that we could answer all of her doubts and questions about religion and we set a time to meet her again the next day at the fort to teach her.

So the next day we met her at the fort, picked a quiet spot on the stone wall, and then started teaching her the message of the first lesson. She understands almost everything in English and speaks very well so she asked us to teach her in English. It was really weird for me at first to teach in English so we switched back and forth between spanish and english but it was a really cool experience. Then at the end I bore my testimony in English for the first time in Chile and so did my companion and it was a really cool experience were the spirit was felt. Before we split she promised that she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it was true. The next day, Sunday, was the last day before she went back to Talcahuano from her stay in Santa Juana and even though we invited her she didn't show to church. But afterwards we met her and taught her again at the fort. She said that she had read and prayed and that she liked it but that she still didn't have her answer yet. But she had lots of questions for us about the church and we talked to her about baptism and she said that when she came to the knowledge of the truth she would be baptized. Before we parted ways she told us that she came to Santa Juana to visit family and to do some reflecting and thinking about life and about the direction her life was going in. She felt that it wasn't a coincidence that during this time in her life she ran into us. We agreed with her and reassured her that it wasn´t a coincidence. She then gave us her number and told us that she would go to church on Sunday in Talcahuano and keep reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I hope that she will feel the spirit and keep progressing and get baptized in Talcahuano. I´ll let you know how it goes.

As far as how are other investigators are progressing, things are kind of just eh. Yeseña is still missing in action and didn't come to church again this week. That’s been really hard for me because she was way good but this week is probably going to be do or die for her. We are going to find out what has really been going on with her and then try to revive her. Laura and Juan are good and came to church but were too busy during the week, once again, for us to come and teach them. But they said that they would have time this week so we are going to teach them a good lesson and with the guidance of the spirit help them set a sooner wedding date so they can get baptized. Oh, we also found out that Juan is a heavy smoker and not a drunk but a man who likes his alcohol. With him its not going to be easy but if we do our part and if it’s the will of the Lord then he will come around. The old lady, Euphemia, is also missing in action. Juan and Laura were the only ones in church this week. Also the president’s family and some other branch members are way sick with the same thing I have so there were only about fifteen members in church on Sunday.

Ok now I’ll tell you about my new comp, Élder Steele. He is a good guy who wants to work and he´s way friendly too. We are already pretty good friends and he loves to joke around. Actually almost everything is a joke to him, he is a little immature but that’s ok because now that I’m finally starting to get over this flu, we are going to hit the streets hard this next week, which is good because we really need to start finding some new people. Well last week was pretty crummy so I don't have too much more to say but I think that things are looking up for this next week. Well things have been down for a while now so whatever happens we are going to make sure that things take a turn for the better this next week, it’s all in the attitude.

Oh and before I go I´ll tell you about two funny little experiences. Tuesday after we got back to the house with my new comp I realized I left the keys inside so we had to pry the window open and get in that way, that was an experience haha. And then later in the day while we were taking our laundry over to the hermana who washes the clothes, this drunk guy unsuccessfully tried to steal my bag of dirty laundry. Ok well that’s it for now. I’m thankful for all of your prayers, love, and support and I know that we are going to start seeing some good changes here in Santa Juana soon. Until next week CHAO!!!!

abrazos, Élder Harper =)

GOD LIVES AND LOVES US, NEVER FORGET IT!

Hello family!!!

First of all I would just like to apologize for not writing yesterday but Dad was right Mom, there was a logical explanation. It has been raining hard since Sunday morning and yesterday there was rain with heavy winds. Due to the winds the power was cut all day and didn't come back til like 10 oclock at night. So yeah it was a pretty boring pday and we were bummed that we didn't get to write. But here I am now writing so it's all good. Oh and I got a call from the secretary of the mission but no need to worry Mom, I´m all right. Oh and happy anniversary!!!! twenty two years married, wow. You guys are my role models and will be when I am married. It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. That's crazy that Abbie is going to be a senior soon. I remember those days just like it was yesterday.

Y acerca de el llamamiento de Taylor Jones. Bakán po loco!!! que genial que vaí a Argentina pero una lastima que no sea Chile. Aunque vaí a gustar la misión en Argentina no es Chile, y nunca será Chile, y punto. Chile es definitivamente lo mejor de los dos paises. Ma´ encima vaí a hablar en vos.. que asco!!! y son terrible chorros los Argentinos si. Pero aunque son orgullosos y se creen los mejores son buena onda y me caen bien. Además tomaremos mate juntos cuando nos reunamos de nuevo!Ok well that's enough Spanish but congratulations Tay!

About our investigators nothing much really last week. We were able to see them last week and they progressed a little but none of them showed up to church, but they all had pretty legit excuses and we are going to be seeing them and helping them out this week so I'm not too worried. But I´ll let you know more about their progress next week.

But man cambios didn't come too soon. Elder Villegas wasn't a bad comp but he just never talked to me. We ended just fine but I was ready for the cambio. Now I am with Elder Steele, I just met him today but so far he seems like a really good guy. This is only his third cambio in the mission so he doesn't speak all that much Spanish but he is learning and progressing. He just needs time and practice. But I am way stoked for this cambio because he is ready to work and so am I and we are both optimistic and have high hopes for this cambio. We have great investigators and we are going to baptize this cambio si o si. We have the people we just need to put the fechas, keep teaching and get the ball rolling. Just like I said at the beginning of last cambio, I see good things up ahead in the future of Santa Juana. As long as we keep faithful and do our part the Lord will take care of the rest. I´ll let you know more about my comp and my investigators on Monday. Well I am excited for a new cambio and excited to work here in Santa Juana this cambio. I just love being a missionary. Well I got to go but I love you all and we will talk more next week. God lives and loves us, never forget it. CHAO!!!!

Su Chileno preferido, Élder Harper =)

A MISSION IS SUCH A BLESSING. NO IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

Hello everybody!

Well it sounds like you all are having a good time as summer is winding down. Switchfoot and the US surf open sound like they were a lot of fun. I really do miss the ocean. But thats ok, I can wait. Well to be completely honest we had a really bad week. It miraculously ended alright but after a great cita we had last Monday night it all went down hill from there until Saturday. We had the week chalk full of preset citas (which usually doesn't happen) and we were feeling good about everything but the Lord decided to teach us a lesson instead. Every last one of the citas that we had set with all of our best investigators fell through the whole week. Then when we reset them for later in the week they fell through again. It's not because our investigators flaked or anything, because they are still good, but at this moment in their lives when the Lord's plan of happiness and the light of the gospel are being opened up to them, life starts becoming complicated. They were all either unusually swamped in work or out of town or dealing with unexpected family problems the whole week. Luckily things cleared up so all of our best investigators were able to go to church, like Laura and Juan and the young adult girl, Yeseña, were able to go to church but none of them progressed in the slightest for a whole week because we were not able to get a hold of them. I was extremely worried about all of them but when the weekend came and they all went to church the Lord showed me that I should have had more faith. It was frustrating that they didn´t progress at all during the week but from what I saw on Sunday they are still good and we will now be able to help them continue progressing this last week of the cambio. This last week showed me that the Lord still wasn´t through with testing my patience jaja and maybe he still isn´t. I´ll just have to work harder, and have more faith in him because it looks like I´m still lacking. But anyways on Saturday we had an activity in the chapel where we watched The Other Side of Heaven and we had a good turnout of a lot of members and a few unexpected investigators and then Sunday we had 5 investigators in the capilla.

But I´m sorry to say that during the week when all of our appointments kept falling through we kind of got disanimated. Well I kind of got disanimated. I´m not sure about my comp. He doesn't talk much or show emotion. And when you ask him questions he usually answeres with yes or no. The only way to get him to actually have a good conversation is to ask about his family or his girlfriend or else he just doesn't talk. He talks to investigators and members but not to me. The exact opposite of Hickman jaja. So when all of our citas fell we started to go visit our not as good investigators, old investigators, and innactives but that turned into a big waste of time and none of them are progressing in the slightest. But I´m done moping and I´m ready to work harder next week to make up for the last. I have faith that if I put my trust in the Lord, things will start falling into place more smoothly. I just have to let go to the control that I think I have over the situations and progress of my investigators and humbly submit more fully to the will of the Lord. Well that's enough of my own personal chastizing and introspection, I´m probably starting to bore you.

Well as far as Laura and Juan, they are doing good but still haven't come to the realization of the big picture yet. After the meeting on Sunday they told us that they decided they were going to get married by the state and then later get married for the church. Jaja, it's not as simple as they think. They do want to join the church. We said that it was great but our faces dropped a little bit when they said they put a goal to get married by the state by the end of the year, like in November or December. It's kind of a tough situation because how can you just tell a person to go and get married in two weeks so they can get baptized now or at least while I´m still here in Santa Juana. I mean it was already a huge step for them to decide to get married before the end of the year so I will pray to be guided to help them understand how the sooner they get married the better and that the end of the year is not soon enough. But they still only have lesson 2, the plan of salvation, so I'm thinking that the message of the restoration and the first principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ might put things more into perspective to help them make the decision to get married sooner. After all, the state marriage is just the tramites (the papers, the forms). It's the sealing that will come a year after that's eternal and will really count. Anyways we have a cita with them Wednesday night and we are going to bring the branch president and his wife with us so hopefully that will help them out. Last Monday we watched The Testaments with Yeseña and gave her the Book of Mormón with the invitation to read and pray. With the way her schedule was last week I´m not sure if she´s done it yet but we are going to meet with her this coming week and we will pray a lot for her and see how she´s doing. She also brought a friend to the lesson last Monday night and the friend came to church with her yesterday. She is pretty active in her own church but was intirgued about the Book of Mormon but we will see more on where she stands this coming week.

Well cambios are this coming week and I am ready for them jaja. I mean I get along with Élder Villegas and he teaches alright and participates in the lessons but Im starting to get lonely. Haha it's just that he never talks to me or shows emotion and well, you know me. I need more human interaction. I guess I was spoiled with too many friends and people to talk to in Monte and so now I'm starting to feel the difference here. He's just the first comp I've had that doesn't talk to me. It's like he lives in his own little world. But that's enough of that. I`ve enjoyed this cambio but Im ready for it to end. I just hope I stay here in Santa Juana.

A mission is such a blessing. No it's a miracle!!! . It's not easy but I`ve never felt so much purpose in life and so happy as I have had here in the mission. I wouldn't trade the experiences I'm having here for the world.

Well sorry for the slightly down and boring email this week. I`ll make sure that it's more positive and cheery next Monday. Well I love you all and keep up with family prayer and scripture study. Les quiero mucho!! CHAO!

tu misionero chileno, Èlder Harper :)

SHE BEGAN TO CRY AS SHE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE TAUGHT HER ABOUT ETERNAL FAMILIES AND HOW IT DOESN'T END WITH THIS LIFE BUT CAN CONTINUE FOR ALL ETERNITY

Hola y muchos saludos a todos!

Well this week was very long but in the end very very good. We had to get up early in the morning last Monday to head out to Conce and be in the stake center of the Talcahuano south stake by 9:30 am. Our bus was a little late and I had to drop Elder Villegas off in San Pedro on the way so I got there a little late but it wasn´t that big of a deal in the end. Anyways it was basically kind of like the MTC for three days. We were taught the new concepts, watched parts of a movie called The District 2 that follows a district of missionaries in San Diego around for a cambio filming them teaching and putting into practice the new ways of teaching, and then practiced in groups teaching with these new concepts and focuses everyday. From Monday to Wednesday we always started at 9:30 and went until about 5:30 to 6ish. Then when we finished we went to our assigned sectors with our assigned companions for the week to put into practice what we were learning until we turned in like normal at 10:00 pm each night. My assigned sector for the week was Las Salinas in Talcahuano and I worked with Élder Valverdes, another Ecuatoriano that has like a year and a half in the mission. The capacitations were really good and I absolutely loved the movie, The District 2, and liked the practices but not all of the lessons were taught all that great. The Zone leaders were assigned to teach and capacitate on all the 8 new concepts, like two or three concepts a day, but not all of them had prepared all that well and did a good job. But some of them were great and in the end I liked the experience and learned a lot. Also, since all of the leaders of the mission were there from North to South I got to see a lot of my buddies that I hadn't seen in a really long time. Almost all of my group from the MTC was there and I got to see Élder Rodriguez for the first time since my second cambio. He´s the Argentino that speaks fluently in English that lived in the same house as us and helped me out a lot my second cambio in the mission. Even though I like the capacitations, I didn't really enjoy so much the experience working in Las Salinas and sleeping on a tiny air mattress in a house built for two with 6 missionaries. But at least I had an air mattress so I can´t complain too much. But everyday when we got to the sector to work like at 6 thirty or so we basically just visited converts, members, and old investigators for the three days. We did that because Élder Valverdes was in the sector for 4 months before so he just wanted to visit people. But Oh well, I have since had the opportunity to apply the things I learned here in Santa Juana in my own sector =).

Also, I didn't get much sleep from Monday to Wednesday because we were in the house with over six missionaries and four of them were Argentinos, two of them finishing the mission this cambio. I don't know if all Argentinos are like this but the ones in this mission love to talk and joke around, especially with other Argentinos. So when they are with their own kind it's just all a big party. So basically they stayed up to like 3 o'clock every night drinking mate herbal tea and laughing loudly. But it wasn't so bad. I didn't get upset or anything but I was dang tired when we finally got back to Santa Juana on Thursday morning. Then when we got back, Thursday and Friday were just ok. We just spent the whole time checking up on our investigators but a lot of them we weren't able to find or the lessons with them were just ehh. But Saturday was amazing. We went to visit this agnostic couple that is extremely nice and friendly that we´ve been teaching for the last couple of weeks and we had an amazing lesson. When we got to the house, the husband´s cousin was in town visiting with her daughter and they happen to be members of the church. So we had a good time talking and then we taught them about eternal families and watched Together Forever and they loved it. There are also a lot of other things that went on during the lesson and elements about the family that are important to why things are just working out perfectly right now but I don't really have too much time to go into it this week. Anyways, what's important is that the member cousin got them excited to go to church with us this week and they all went along with one of the husband's daughters, who was also in town visiting. It was fast and testimony meaning so I was nervous that there were going to be a lot of long pauses and silences since it's such a small branch but in the end it didn't go over that way. We actually went a little over the hour. Anyway it was one of the most powerful testimony meetings that I´ve been in and the spirit was felt strongly by all, both members and investigators. Actually, at the end of the meeting the wife of the couple we are teaching got up and bore her testimony. She said in her testimony how gratetful she was that we got to her home to bring them the gospel and Jesus Christ into their lives. She said that she was just so excited to build up faith in Christ when there was nothing before and to start in His path. She then began to cry as she talked about how we taught her about eternal families and about how it doesn't end with this life but can continue for all eternity. She said that she had never imagined or hoped for that before and that when we taught her that she believed it because she felt a burning inside her chest. She then said that she was excited to keep coming to church and to hopefully get sealed in the temple some day.

At the end of the testimony the whole chapel was teary eyed and we were stoked because it was only her first time going to church and she already said that she knows it's true. The only problem with them now is that they are not legally married. This would discourage most missionaries but they told us that they want to get married so that they can get baptized and married in the temple and if they and us exercise faith, I think we can help them reach that goal. God did it for Marcos and Marcela in Galvarino and I know he can do it for Juan and Laura (the investigators). Also all of the other investigators that were there loved the meeting and felt the spirit and one of them, who is a 20 year old, actually ended up going with some of the other young adults of the branch to a huge Young adult devotional in Concepción and it seems like they all made friends very fast. And it was only her first Sunday in church as well! We have a cita with her later tonight so we will see how she enjoyed the devotional then. On Saturday night I was a little nervous about church the next day because the president called to tell us that he was going to be out of town and he has no counselors so I had to bless the sacrament, preside the meeting and teach priesthood while my comp conducted the meeting. But in the end, my nervousness was in vane because all the meetings went smoothly and it was probably one of my favorite Sundays in church that I´ve had in the mission so far. Oh and in total we had 6 investigators in church.

Also I had an extremely humbling and spiritual experience that brought me into a better perspective with things on Friday night but I just got the impression that I probably shouldn't share it just yet so I will save that one for later maybe. Well I must say that even though I´ve gone through some rough patches and trials here in Santa Juana that it looks like things are looking up here and that the Lord has prepared his children to receive His gospel here in this pueblo. Things aren´t going perfect and none of our investigators have baptismal fechas yet, and we could teach a lot better but as long as we just do our best and have faith I´ll leave the rest in the lords hands. Besides even though it's stayed cold we´ve had sunny cloudless skys here for the past few days so things are looking good for next week. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers, love and support and I will talk to you all next week. Until then CHAO!!!!

con mucho amor, Élder Harper =)

HAPPINESS IN THE FONT

WE DECIDED TO KNOCK DOORS TO SEE IF WE COULD FIND ANYONE WHO DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE CRAWDADS

Hello everybody!!!!!!

Well it feels like it's been a while since I´ve heard from you and written you. That's probably because it has been a while. haha Anyways it was good to hear from you guys. Man, the capacitation thing was good but it's been a long week and I am dead tired. But today I´m going to tell you about how my last week went and on Monday I´ll tell you about how the whole capacitation thing in Conce went. That way I´ll have something to write about on Monday. Well first of all it sounds like you guys are having a fun and active summer. Hearing about the Channel Islands trip from Dad brought back a lot of memories from when I was there six years ago. Man, I can't believe that was six years ago. I´m really getting old. Oh, and Izzie´s story of Abbie and Jenna´s experience at the Sawdust Festival really made me laugh. jajaja Thanks Izzie. Oh and I´m sorry about the surf Dad, it's not going to be easy but I know that you will be blessed for sacrificing dawn patrol to teach seminary. As you dedicate more time and energy to studying the scriptures and preparing lessons for your students, you´ll feel your testimony strengthen and grow. I´m sure that you´ll be glad you made the decision in the end =).

Well so let's see... how did my last week go? This week has been so long that it'.s kind of hard to remember what I did the week before. At the beginning of the week I started to get down a little bit. I remember that we worked hard but I felt like we could have worked harder and more efficiently but in the end of the week we were greatly blessed. We have and had a few good progressing investigators and we found some new ones who are really good too but it was kind of frustrating because all of the best investigators that we had at that time, we knew wouldn´t be able to go to church because three of them had to work at this stupid Crawdad Festival. So even though they are progressing and all, it still made me frustrated that they aren´t progressing faster but I´m having patience. As Saturday morning came around, we had some good investigators and we were finding some potentially good new ones and were working hard but we didn't have anyone who could come to church with us on Sunday because of the crawdads and other reasons. So it got me down thinking that we might have another Domingo con zero en la capilla but we did our best to keep our animo up. So in the morning on Saturday we decided to knock doors to see if we could find anyone who didn't care about the crawdads. So we went to a street that I had never been before and started knocking.

On the second house this older woman came out and without a word opened the gate and told us to follow her. We were a little surprised but we did as we were told and followed her into the living room. Then she asked us where we had been and why we had stopped coming to her house. I was taken aback for a second and tried explaining to her that we had never seen her before when she realized that we were different people than she thought. She then told us that the missionaries were teaching her and that she went to church twice before the earthquake. Then after the earthquake she didn't see the missionaries again. We asked her if she liked what they were teaching her and she said yes and that she liked the chuch a lot. So we invited her to go with us on Sunday and she said she would. We then taught her briefly about the gospel of Jesus Christ and told her that we were going to prepare her to receive baptism by the authority of God like the baptism that Jesus received and she said that it sounds good. When we went to her house on Sunday to pick her up she came out the door dressed and ready to go before we even had the chance to yell ¨halo¨ or knock. So we are way excited about her but the only problem is that she can´t read and that she works as a nanny taking care of an ¨abuelito¨ which I thought funny because she's an old person taking care of an old person jaja, but it's all good. The only thing is that when he´s really sick she can't escape for a few hours to go to church so we are praying that the abuelito stays healthy enough to let her go to church.

Also on Sunday, one member who lives out in the campo and is extremely spiritual, finally convinced her little 16 year old brother, who isn't a member, to go with her to church and he seemed to really like it a lot. At the end he said he would come the next week and we planned to go out to his house in the campo to have a noche de hogar (family night) with him this next week. We would have done it earlier but we had to go to Conce for the capacitations. Also, two other members brought either a non acitve family member or friend that is starting to show interest in the church. So in the end we had four investigators in the church and I was left humbled. We´ve been working like dogs without seeing much results but finally last week the Lord led us to one of his prepared and the members did the rest of the work to bring the other investigators. It really showed me that we can't do this on our own no matter how hard we work but that if we have faith and work hard with patience the lord will provide in his own due time.

Oh and this is kind of random, but Elder Villegas and I planned a little Pioneer Day that we had here in Santa Juana last Saturday. We drank hot chocolate, ate cake, and watched El Legado (Legacy). Then after the movie we shared what we liked and what we learned from the movie. It was simple and very small, only ten people showed up. But we had a good time and felt the presence of the spirit there. In the end, the week ended well with a good Pioneer Day and a good Sunday in the capilla. Ok well that's all I got for now but I'll talk to you guys again in just three days and I´ll tell you how this week went then. Until then love you all!! chao!!!!

con amor, Élder Harper =)

ps. keep it up Mom with the scripture study, conference club and DAK. even though it seems like it might not make that much of an impression it really does. Well it did on me even though I know that I really didn't show it well. Anyways keep it up. Especially with family scripture study and most of all FAMILY PRAYER. your awesome mom =)

P-DAY DIES

Hello family!!!

So if your wondering why in the world you are getting an email on a Thursday from me it's because I don't have p-day this coming Monday. The church leaders are making some major changes on how they are going to train the missionaries in the MTC and such but before they start it in the MTC they are going to integrate the changes on the way we are going to teach in all of the missions around the world. So on Monday all of the district leaders and zone leaders of the mission are going to be in Concepción for a 4 day long capacitation that is going to last until Thursday. Which means I will not have p-day on Monday but we will do email this coming Friday. Not this Friday but next Friday. And then next Monday I will have p-day and do email like normal. Anyways this 4 day long training thing with all of the leaders should be very interesting but I'll tell you how it goes when I write next Friday. Well I got to go but I love you all. CHAO!!!!

Elder Harper =)

note from Mom: Riley will have P-day this Friday and next Monday. I will post both of those letters next Monday

IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE BEING OUT HERE IN THE MISSION, IF NOT THE BEST

Hello everybody!!!

Wow, has time gone fast.. I have been in the mission a year now!!! Where has the time gone, How has a year already passed by me? As I approached Thursday I did a lot of thinking and reflecting of how this year has gone in the mission and how I´ve changed and the experiences I´ve had from when I walked into the MTC wide eyed and overwhelmed until now. I´ve been going over the experiences in my head from the MTC and each one of the sectors that I´ve been in thus far. Thinking about all missionaries and chilenos that I´ve met and that have left impacts on my life and the conversions of all of my converts up til now. I´ve thought about how I´ve worked, what I´ve done well, and what I could have done better. Yes I´ve made a lot of mistakes and yes there are things I understand now that I wish I would have known earlier but looking on everything I came to the conclusion that it was one of the best years of my life being out here in the mission if not the best.

It made me a little sad that now I´m over the hill and am on the other side but it also made me excited for all of the experiences, friendships, baptisms, and miracles that await me on this side of the hill. Now I have a lot more experience and understanding and realize more than ever that I have a long way to go until I´m the missionary and the man that I want to be but it gives me hope knowing that I still have a year to go to become the person I want to be. Thursday felt a lot more like New Years than January first this year jaja. I am far from perfect and I sorrow for being such a rebellious and disobedient child of my Father in Heaven but I know that if I trust in him and try to swallow my pride he will help me to become better. Jaja I really identified with Nephi´s words in his psalm (2 Nephi 4) as all this was going through my head. Yes I could be more obedient, yes I could keep my mind and heart on the work more, yes Im too prideful, yes I need to rely on the Lord more, and yes I need to work harder. Sometimes it's overwhelming but it all just comes down to pride. When we humble ourselves and put our trust in God then he will turn our weaknesses into strengths and mold us into who we need to be and into who he needs us to be. Thank goodness I´ve got another whole year to go to shape up!!!! =D

Wow this email has really turned into a journal entry jaja and I think I've been going in circles for a while now so I´ll move on. On Wednesday we had the big conference with the president of all the zones in the north and it was great to see everyone and be uplifted by the knowledge and wisdom of President Swenson and the assistants. Also five of my comps from the mission so far were there so I got to see Terrazas, Sanabria, Leiva, and Vincent. Actually Kamalu was there too so we had most of our original group there. We had a good time sharing experiences and marveling about how we are a year old now. None of us can believe how fast the time has gone by. And there was a lot of traffic in Conce so we didn't get back from traveling from conference until like 9:45 so that's why I had so much time to reflect jaja.

Then Thursday was hump day and it turned out to be a pretty good day. We spent the day looking up innactive members on the list and starting contacts by asking people in the streets for the addresses. We spent most of the day getting rejected but some of the innactives were receptive. Then we had a good lesson with this really nice agnostic lady who is progressing (very slowly but still progressing) and had a family night with another innactive family. Afterwards we got home and to comemorate one year in the mission, I burnt one of my white shirts that got damaged and didn't

use anymore in the backyard on a metal hanger. Just one of the pagan traditions that missionaries have jaja but it was fun. Of course we took pictures and video. The rest of the week was kind of a bust. We worked hard but didn't see much results and I kind of let myself get disanimated and at the end of the week didn't really have my heart too much in it. Then on Sunday the three people who were supposed to go to church didn't show up and so we had another week with zero in the capilla. It was a hard pill to swallow and made it worse that the rest of my district didn't do too much better.

But I´m done moping and I´ve repented and am ready to work harder and in a more efficient way here next week. This is just a trial that I'm going through here that I must pass through and I know that if I remain faithful and endure it well the Lord will bless me just like he said to Joseph in Liberty Jail. It's the enduring it well part that gets me sometimes but I'm trying to do better. Well this email has turned into quite the novel so Im going to wrap it up. I just want you all to know that I love you and love hearing about what's new with the fam every week. Keep enjoying your summer while I'm freezing here in winter. Well God lives and so does his son Jesus Christ and once again I had the privilege to testify to that in front of twenty members of the Santa Juana branch on Sunday in a talk just a few minutes after I said the opening prayer to start us off jaja. Well take care and until next week CHAUITO!!!

con amor, Élder Harper =)

ON MY FIRST SUNDAY I HAD TO BLESS THE SACRAMENT, PRESENT MYSELF, GIVE A TALK AND SAY THE CLOSING PRAYER

Hola y muchos saludos a todos!!!

Well another week has come and passed.  Another week that was way short but at the same time sooo long.  Leaving Monte Águila was really hard and kind of stressful jaja.  After email, we ran around the whole town for the rest of the day saying goodbyes to members and converts and so I didn’t get all of my packing done until way late.  But it was worth it.  The day of the cambios started off a bit gloomy as it was raining and it  continued to rain the whole day.  Finally,  a long morning and a few bus rides my new comp and I get to Santa Juana and me and my luggage are completely soaked.  And there began a slightly hard week.  But first off my companion is Élder Villegas from Ecuador.  He´s really tiny and looks like he´s 18 years old but he´s actually 25.  He has about six months in the mission and has a lot of desires to work and baptize and is a really good guy.  As far as Santa Juana goes, it's a small pueblo but to me, coming from Monte Águila, it doesn’t seem so small jaja.

      

It has a lot of potential and everything but right now it is stone cold dead so we are going to revive it this cambio.  While talking to Elder Villegas on the bus ride from Conce to Santa Juana, I came to find that there weren´t any investigators. They hadn’t brought anyone to church in over a month, and they haven’t baptized since 2009 (so for at least 7 months).  Yeah, that was a hard pill to swallow but it's not important because things are going to change here in Santa Juana starting now.  So anyways, since there are no investigators, after we ate lunch and I unpacked, on Tuesday we spent the day out knocking doors in the rain until like 8 pm and then we spent the rest of the evening introducing me to some members. Wednesday we had district meeting in San Pedro (at the chapel were I slept for a few nights after the earthquake) and I found out that it's not just my sector, but pretty much my whole district is dead.  Oh, and Elder Leiva is still in my district haha. He left from Cabrero to San Pedro to be in my district again.  Anyways including my sector, there are 3 other sectors in my district (that’s huge!!!) and not one of them had investigators in church the last week and only one of them baptized the last cambio.  Actually only one of them at the moment has any investigators at all to speak of.  That’s a huge difference from my last district where every sector was baptizing. So we set some goals and made some commitments to change some things to resurrect our sectors and the district.  

      

After the district meeting we had a pretty tough day Wednesday.  It rained the entire day and we spent the entire day, afternoon, and evening on the streets knocking doors.  We found a few that were somewhat receptive but we didn’t enter a single house the entire day.  And even though we were wearing our rain gear we took it to and beyond the limits.  When we finally got home at like 9 45 pm, we were soaked from head to toe and freezing cold.  Even though it was somewhat miserable and not very fruitful we were at least satisfied from a good hard days work.  I had never knocked so many doors in one day or gotten so wet before in my whole time here in Chile.  Hey those are some of the experiences that you just gotta have in the mission =).

     

On Thursday the rain finally stopped and the rest of the week went by pretty much the same.  Looking for people anyway we can.  Knocking doors, talking in the street, looking up innactives and past investigators, and asking references from members.  We didn’t find anybody amazing but we did get to enter some houses and teach a few lessons and we have some follow up appointments for this coming week so now at least we have some people to work with while we keep up the search for those that God has prepared here in Santa Juana.  And even though my comp had a hard time here last cambio with a companion who was disanimated and didn’t want to work, he's excited and ready to work this cambio and really wants to baptize before he leaves Santa Juana, so we are going to do our best to end the drought here this cambio.  

     

Unfortunately even though we worked like dogs the last week we weren’t able to get anyone to church on Sunday.  But that’s ok because now we have a few people and some good references so we will be sure to bring people to the chapel this coming week.  The rama here is tiny and there are no priesthood to speak of.  The only active priesthood holders are the branch president, the branch mission leader, two old guys, and one other guy who goes like every other week.  Then there is one girl youth and one boy youth.  The rest of the branch is relief society and young adult girls jaja.  Actually its not just the branch but the whole town is full of women.  My comp said that there are like 4 or 5 women for every guy who lives here in Santa Juana.  Maybe that’s why Im the first gringo missionary to be here for over a year jaja. So anyways there were only 25 people in the house here that they call a chapel on Sunday and I had to bless the sacrament, present myself, give a talk, and say the closing prayer.  I just love little towns =). Well even though I've only heard bad things from other missionaries about this place and that it's been dead for a while, I'm doing my best to not let that affect me or my animo.  My comp and I are stoked to be here and are pumped with the goal to be the ones to end the drought and quench the thirst of baptisms here in Santa Juana.  Well I got to go but I love you all, I love my God, I love my Savior, and I love my mission!!!!

Hasta la proxima semana, Élder Harper =D

I'M LEAVING WITH A PEACE THAT I POURED OUT MY HEART, SOUL, TESTIMONY AND BLOOD : ) FOR THE PEOPLE OF MONTE AGUILA.

Querida familia y amigos,

HAPPY LATE 4th OF JULY!!!! My fourth of July was crazy but also awesome! But I´ll tell you about it later in the email. First I just want to say congratulations Sam!!! That's so awesome that you're baptized now; Im really proud of you. And it sounds like you guys had a good week with Grandma and the Dixsons at home and an awesome fourth. That's really awesome that Dad and Bay got to go up to Parowan to be in the parade with Grandpa. I'm sure that was an awesome experience and it sounds like they loved it. Especially Grandpa I imagine. It also sounds like Abbie is having an awesome time and working her tail off over in Peru. I'm so excited that she's having this amazing experience and more than anything the opportunity to serve. She´s seeing a little bit of how the rest of the world lives and it is a very humbling, learning and enriching experience to be able to help them out and serve them. I´m sure that she´ll never forget the experience that she's having there. Well as far as my week went, it was pretty crazy but also very good. By the way, so you know, excuse my spelling because there is no English spell check and Spanish has completely destroyed my spelling and grammar in English. But anyways here it goes.

The World cup craze is officially over here in Chile. Everyone is still watching it but the energy and the excitement are gone. Chile lost in the second round to Brasil. I mean it was expected but it was still a very sad day for Chile last week when it happened because futbol is everything here. But while it was still going on I was really impressed with the feelings of pride and patriotic unity that it brought out in the Chilenos. It's finally over for the Chilenos which kills that conversation starter for when we are out contacting jaja.

On Thursday us and the Cabrero missionaries went down to the hospital in Los Ángeles to donate blood for the hermano who is dying of stomach cancer (and whose house burned down). He is actually in surgery right now but he needed blood donors before the operation so we volunteered. It took us like all day because we had to wait two and a half hours to do it down there but it was worth it. Now I can say that 

I´ve given everything, even spilled blood for the people here =) half a liter of blood to be exact haha. The only thing that went weird is that they told us that we had to fast before going in so none of us ate breakfast. Yes, they were wrong and the doctors told us that we were supposed to eat a good breakfast before going in. It wasn't a big deal but all of us were very dizzy and weak in the end jaja. Then afterwards we went up to visit the hermano who had just been told by his wife that they lost their house. They were both hugging and crying softly together when we got up to his room but he was cheered up and very grateful to hear the news about our blood donation. Then I told him that after the operation and transfusion, his hair was going to turn blonde, his skin white, his eyes blue, and that he would speak in a gringo accent after receiving our blood. Jaja. He really seemed to enjoy that. Then we said a prayer together and left. The family is being taken care of well and the city is supposed to start constructing a new house for them this week so we will see how that goes. I'm glad I was able to help out and give my blood for them. By the way, for future reference what's my blood type mom? Jaja.

Well it rained again this week for a few days but then it stopped again. It's winter, what can I expect. Also during the week a lot of our investigators kind of stopped progressing but things went well with Filomena and Carolina. Carolina stopped drinking, smoking, and taking coffee. She even went to a party with her friends and refused drink and cigarrettes despite the teasing from her friends. Then the zone leaders came to do their baptismal interviews on Saturday and they passed!!! Also, on Saturday morning we got our cambios. Hickman is staying in Monte Águila and I´m leaving. They are sending me to a little pueblo called Santa Juana, which is like 45 minutes or so south of Concepción and right on the river Bío Bío. I´m stoked to be going to another pueblo and to be staying in the north for the rest of winter instead of going to Temuco but it's sad leaving Monte Águila. I know its my time to leave and I feel ready to leave but it's still hard. There are a lot of people that I really care about here and a lot of people who care about me. A lot of people cried when they found out that I´m leaving, including the Hna Iglesias, Carolina, Raquel, and Viqui (the sister of Raquel). So Last night and today I´ve been doing the despedidas, saying good bye to everyone. I don't know how I´m going to finish doing that and packing tonight but where there´s a will there's a way jaja.

Despite yesterday being sad about me leaving, it was also an extremely happy Fourth of July. Despite my doubts, my investigators and God proved me wrong. Filomena and Carolina were both baptized yesterday!!! Wahoooo!!!! Who needs fireworks when you´ve got two baptisms! Jaja. Although the baptismal service was a little difficult, it went well and everyone felt good in the end. We waited an hour after church ended to do it because they didn't want very many people to be there and it was definitely an interesting baptism. Carolina was absolutely terrified and almost didn't go through with it. She had a near drowning experience as a child and as a result of that, is absolutely terrified of water. Just looking at a pool or body of water makes her scared and she was absolutely frozen by fear at just the thought of being dunked under the water. So Filomena went first and Hickman baptized her. The first time he said the prayer, I thought he did it fine but at the end when she came up out of the water, one of the witnesses stopped him and told him he had to do it without pausing or stuttering. That put him very nervous and he ended up saying the prayer another 10 times or so before he got it down perfectly and baptized her. To give Hickman credit, she did have a long confusing name and of course he was nervous because it was his first time baptizing. In the end, he did good and Filomena looked content while her sister was still just about dying of fear. It freaked her out that Filomena had to go under the water twice.

When it came to Carolina's turn, she looked at me and said ¨No.. I can't do it¨. Elder Leiva and I spent 5 minutes talking to her trying to convince her but it was hopeless. She was scared to death. We finally suggested that we all kneel down and pray together. I offered the prayer. During it I expressed thanks to our Heavenly Father for her desires to start in the path of righteousness and be baptized for the remission of sins and I asked him to bless her with calmness, tranquility and strength to follow the example of Jesús, conquer her fears, and be baptized. That helped her enough to get her to and into the font but she insisted that Elder Hickman, who is a life guard, be in the font as well, even though I would be doing the ordinance. It took like ten minutes to get her all the way in and she was clinging to both me and Hickman the whole time. Finally we got in position and she started to say once again that she couldn't do it. But then Elder Leiva said some comforting words to her that were perfect for her to hear and then she looked up at her son who was standing at the glass calmly watching her. Her kid Axel is 4 years old and is more ADD then almost any kid I know. During church and Filomena's baptism he was freaking out the whole time but at that moment for once he was calm and quietly watching us at the glass. I think that helped her a lot because she then closed her eyes and said she was ready. So I said the prayer and dunked her deep to make sure we wouldn't have to do any repeats. She came up spluterring and almost crying but when she finally realizad she wasn't drowning, she starting laughing and smiling and couldn't believe that she did it. Even though it was kind of difficult, it was an awesome baptism experience and she and Filo felt great for getting baptized and Caro for conquering her fears as well.

Well Im just about out of time at the computer and I have to go finish saying goodbye. I still need to go see Carolina and Filomena and the family Iglesias. I love Monte Águila and the people here so much and even though it's hard to say good bye, I´m leaving with a peace that I poured out my heart, soul, testimony, and blood :) for the people here of Monte Águila. Maybe I wasn't a perfect missionary here and maybe I could have worked harder and done more but at least I was able to help change some lives and leave some sort of impact as small as it may be here in Eagle Mountain.

con mucho cariño, Élder Harper =)