Welcome to Elder Benjamin Sierra's Missionary Blog. Elder Sierra will be serving for two years in the Chile Santiago South Mission as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.



WRITE ELDER SIERRA!

MISSIONARIES LOVE TO GET LETTERS (AND CARE PACKAGES)! IF YOU'D LIKE TO WRITE TO ELDER SIERRA, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES:

ELDER BENJAMIN SIERRA
CHILE SANTIAGO SOUTH MISSION
FRANCISCO ARANDA 530
SAN BERNARDO
REGION METROPOLITANA (SANTIAGO)
CHILE

EMAIL:

benjamin.sierra@myldsmail.net

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

GOBELIEVER AND A SPRAINED ANKLE

February 28, 2018

Dear Family,

Here's a quick update on some investigators this week:

Josè and Camila
Well, things have gotten a bit interesting. We had a lesson with them last night and basically listened to their very contrasting views on marriage. Camila's very committed to the idea of marriage and has told Josè that if he doesn't want to marry her, they'll have to break up soon and she'll get married, but she does not plan on living her life without getting married. Josè, on the other hand, doesn't think he's ready (he's 29) but makes silly excuses on why he doesn't want to get married. Basically, it seems like they may break up soon. Camila said that she's making herself more and more independent in order to be able to support herself. It's quite sad for Josè, but Camila's faith is impressive and she plans on getting baptized when she can stop co-living. (Part of the problem is that Josè, being an immigrant, still doesn't have the ID needed to rent a house somewhere else)

Natalia and Luis
This is the family of the missionary from the ward we're currently serving in. They've been pretty dang hard. Natalia has a "Catholic" background and Luis is actually an inactive (quite inactive) but we had been working little by little and yesterday, we had a really nice lesson! We read 3Nephi: 27 with them and they liked it a lot! We got to answer more questions and the Spirit was very strong. At the end Natalia asked, "What do I have to do to get baptized?" Solid lesson and that was the huge light at the end of the tunnel; we really thought we would be possibly losing them soon!

A funny story: 
One of our investigators is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother has a very strange name that we honestly couldn't remember too well. After a while we just asked her to spell it out for us so that we could pronounce it right. So she spells it out... G-O-B-E-L-I-E-V-E-R.... Gobeliever?!?! Yup, her name was literally "Go Believer" put together and pronounced in Spanish! My comp and I almost burst out laughing, but we didn't! 

Also, I sprained my ankle Saturday. Isidro and his family went to the Church on Saturday to play soccer (All the churches here have outside futsol courts and we've been inviting people to come play.) Usually, lots of people come but this time, there were very few so our awesome 1st Counselor to the Bishop just took him and his wife on a tour of the Church! Sweet! So, we're talking to the 4 others that came and I was entertaining Isidro's 4 year-old son for a little when I stepped on a rock and sprained my ankle.... 😑
Sunday and Monday I was down for the count, but I've made a good recovery and Tuesday, I was up and walking and we worked! 

That was pretty much all the fun for this week. I hope you all have a good one!

-Elder Sierra

Monday, February 26, 2018

CHANGES IN THE SECTOR

February 21, 2018

Wow, where do I start with this week? 
Things have been changing a lot in the sector. Really, there was just a shift of focus from some older investigators to some younger blood. Our buddy, Anthony, is doing well and wants to get baptized by the 10th of March and we've also been finding more people to teach. The only problem is that everybody leaves for vacations this time of year! Our ward attendance has been cut in half and we've been without our bishop and mission leader for 2 weeks now! XD They're coming back soon, though. And so, lot's of investigators are kinda pausing things and we're working with others now.

We had a good lesson with José and Camila. They weren't progressing too much because of their schedules and they kinda lowered their level of commitment, but we had a good lesson and re-calculated our purpose with them and promised the blessings of baptism and an eternal family. They have lots to overcome (José drinking, Camila smoking) but they said they'd be willing to change. 
We also had some tasty Ceviche with them this morning! It's actually quite easy to make and tasty! 

Today, we were invited to the home of the older couple that asked for the service we did for their family members. It was basically cleaning a home out that belonged to a "hoarder." There was TONS of random stuff and they were so happy that they invited all the Elders that helped them over for Asado! They have a REALLY nice home (for Chile, that is). We felt like we were in the States. They also had some bomb choripanes. The mayor of San Bernardo even showed up! It was funny because we were all, like, "Who's she?" and someone was said, "That's the mayor" and we were like, "oh..."

So things have been good and my comp and I are having some really cool experiences. We also had interviews with President and he said I'm going to be transferred next month so we'll see where I go! Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Sierra

At Mary Manriquez's house

My 'son' and me!