BROTHAS GOTTA HUG!

June 28, 2017

This week was pretty awesome!

Luchito Days

So we got this neat reference and it's for this guy called Luis Diaz and it mentioned he speaks English and even went by the nickname Luchito Days in high school. (Lucho is the nickname for Luis)

We ended up finding him in the street by accident and he was way swell. We set an appointment with him and before teaching him, we talked for 2 hours!!!  He talked a lot but much of it was about his Christian background! He was close to becoming an evangelist pastor, but when they gave him an envelope full of tithing money after a humanitarian service (telling him 'This is your cut; we've got to live, too) he said nope and left.... 

So, he was pretty receptive and really interested in the Book of Mormon and promised to read it.  We'll see how it goes. He was really, really friendly and at the end he said, (in Spanish, of course) "Hey, there's a saying in English... " (goes into English) "Friends shake hands but... brothas gotta hug!!!" and he gave me a hug! It was pretty funny in the moment. We're hopeful about him.

Piña Coladas

Finally got around to trying the coco lopez to make (non-alcoholic) piña coladas yesterday! Was a tad nervous about messing it up but I wanted to make some for the same Puerto Rican who was there for the guava pastries. Mainly, it was so he would be softer on us at the house inspections... and it worked (heh heh)

I did round two last night and it was life-changingly wonderful.

¡Vamos Chile!

We got the privilege of watching a soccer game because one finally fell on a P-day! And it wasn't just any game, it was Chile vs. Portugal! A GOOD game! It went 0-0 until penalty kicks and then Chile just went ham!!! Bravo didn't let a SINGLE ONE THROUGH. It was probably the funnest thing I think I've done one a p-day!

There's not a ton left to add, but I made a recording and that has more information so it's better. Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Sierra

Open House At The Chapel. We gave tours.

LIVING THE GOSPEL COMPLETELY CHANGES YOU!

June 21, 2017

So this week is basically some more of the same! 

Nedín is just AWESOME! We taught her tithing and fast offering and she just accepted everything right away! We don't really even teach her too much, we just talk about things and she ask how she does them! Her baptismal date was set as the 15th of July, but that was set over a month ago expecting some setbacks, but none came! We're done with all the lessons and she's super ready so we'll see if it can be the 7th! 

We're teaching a less-active family named the Arrandando Family and they've changed COMPLETELY since we started teaching them!  The parents are about 30ish years old and have 2 small girls. I started with Elder Gates 5 months ago and when we came by they received us but said that they weren't ready to come back to church yet and that they wanted to settle some family issues... ok... So we only got to teach them a couple times and they were having a hard time with their faith in the Church. 

Fast forward about 3 months and we see them again. We ask them if we could stop by and they agree to do an FHE! We talk to them and they say that they really won't be able to come to church for a while because the husband is a waiter and NEVER has Sundays off. *sigh*

We keep doing the FHEs but it seems a bit useless until out of the Blue... THEY SHOW UP TO CHURCH! 

At that point Elder Leles and I are like, what happened?! And he says he got the day off! The next FHE we talk to them and they tell us he decided to talk to his boss and he got permission to come in late on Sundays to go to Sacrament Meeting each Sunday and all 3 hours once a month!!!! 

After that, in two weeks, they're saying family prayers, couples prayers, and reading the scriptures every night! Maria Paz (the mom) quite smoking and they stopped selling cigarettes and gave away all their coffee and tea. They've even starting counting their store profit every day to be able to pay tithing! We taught them about temples and sealing yesterday and they are #down!

The only sad thing is that Alejandro (the husband) might be excommunicated... but he's still really enthusiastic! 

All in all, just another one of the reasons I'm going to miss this ward...

Other than that, it's kinda cold! Not really cold, but nobody has anything more than space heaters so sometimes you can see your breath in peoples' houses! We have heaters that go under our blankets, though, so we are all nice n' toasty :)

Oh and by the way, those light-up balloons you sent for my birthday are pretty dope! They're still going! We got home one day to a lack of power in the neighborhood and I lit a bunch of them up and it illuminated the house! 10/10

That's about it! Chau!

Elder Sierra

Nedín and the rest of her a family at FHE

A HARDCORE WEEK IN CAPITÁN ÁVALOS! MIRACLES AND MORE

June 14, 2017

This week was pretty HARDCORE!

First off, Nedìn is going strong on her date for the 15th (I think I've been saying other dates, but it's for sure the 15th!) Actually, we may bring it up a week, she progresses VERY fast, but we don't want to push her and she already has a calendar and she's happy with the 15th. 

NeXt comes the more miraculous part: There's been this less active family that we've been doing FHEs with to try to help them, but it's been super hard and they haven't really been progressing. They told us that, because the husband is a waiter, they'll never have Sundays off... HOWEVER, after working with them for a good 5 weeks, out of the blue they show up to church! We talk to them and Alejandro (the dad) said they got the day off! Then we had another FHE with them and they tell us they've finally started reading the Book of Mormon on a daily basis! 

But that's not ALL! Alejandro then tells us that he talked to his work and they gave him permission to come into work late on Sundays so he can go to Sacrament Meeting and sometimes classes! 

AND THEN Maria (the mom), who had had the hardest time with the church, because she never understood faith nor the Atonement, said she had a dream where God, The Father, was disappointed in her, almost scolding her in a Fatherly manner saying "I've given you so many tools to help you and you're still failing?"  She felt pain and shame and then Christ appeared and started advocating for her and she felt relief and peace. I left out some details, but after explaining her dream she said, "I now understand what people mean when they talk about the Atonement"

It was kinda cray because everything she said made doctrinal sense and usually when people tell us things like that it's a bit weird and doesn't really add up, but she was SPOT ON.

So we're kinda amazed over here and then we're just chatting about their progression and I mention the temple and endowment for some reason and she says "OH YEAH, what's that stuff you wear after?" and we're like, garments, and she's like "I read something and then had the feeling that I need to get to that level, to be able to do that to become more clean..." It was a cray FHE!

And we also have been talking to a youth of 18 years who's a recent convert and now he's gonna pray to decide about going on a mission #score

I think I've written quite a bit and that's what's been going on in Capitàn Àvalos... Oh yeah, and I think I'm leaving in 2 weeks... I've been here for 6 months but wouldn't mind staying for a good 3 more! I REALLY hope I stay but it's a fat chance! Have a great week everyone!

Elder Sierra

THINGS ARE HAPPENING OVER HERE

June 7, 2017

Dear Mom,

Things have actually been going REALLY well!!! 

Nedín is just the biggest "regalón"!!! She came to church for the 4th time and was finally able to stay for 2nd hour so she attended gospel principles and loved it! There was one little part that went array. The teacher is really good, but messed up a little because she said "no se puede lograr la exaltación y regresar a vivir con Dios sí no es casado!" Needless to say she was a bit rustled up, but she stayed calm and quiet and when we went to visit her in the afternoon we talked to her about it and explained the millenium a bit and cleared everything up! We also taught her the Word of Wisdom and in the middle of teaching it, she committed to letting go of tea! She ALWAYS follows through on her readings and some she reads multiple times if she feels like it! She's going strong on her date for the 18th of July!

We also have Arnoud Delmont and Gracien Delmont, the Haitian brothers! Elder Leles and I decided it was critical we get some missionaries that speak French to help teach them because they just couldn't progress anymore. We called an American missionary who had supposedly taught himself French on the mission. We planned a lesson with him and our Haitian bros in the church and it turned out to be amazing! The Elder that helped us spoke very good french and we set up a schedule to meet up twice a week to teach them! Arnoud has his date for the 1st of July and Gracien will have the same date if he commits to keeping the law of chasity and works towards marrying his not-wife when she arrives to Chile. They explained that they weren't sure about getting baptized beforehand because they didn't understand things too well, however, now they are comfortable with the idea. 

It's pretty exciting to see things falling into place even though I have probably only 4 more weeks in this area. I kinda hope I don't leave but that would be very unlikely. But yeah... allí estamos(there we are)...

2-3 baptisms lined up as I leave here and I'm really interested to see how things will be when their families of 6 each get here later this year. I'll see if I can get some pictures with them too! That's what's happening over here! 

-Elder Sierra

ROGUE ONE, SOCCER AND A BAPTISMAL DATE FOR NADÍN!!

May 31, 2017

So this week we've been really seeing some growth in the ward! The members have even been mentioning it to us because we've been getting people to church they haven't seen in over a year. 

The greatest success of the week by far was with Nedín! We set a baptismal date for July 15th, and it's rock solid! We visit her every Sunday and now Fridays, too, and this last Sunday we gave her a baptismal calendar and have the path completely set up! She's super good at reading and we read 3 Nephi 11 with her because she was having a hard time understanding it when she read it. We got up to verse 17 about the people feeling the print in Christ's hands and feet. We talked about it and talked about baptism for a bit. She then was like "but I already was baptized by the Catholics, wouldn't it be bad to do it again?" and we were "Heck naw". Actually no... we said "Why don't we keep reading the next few verses?" 

And then she was like "OH, I need to be baptized by the proper authority and repent beforehand!" #golden

So we continued and introduced her to the Triple so she could read Joseph Smith History. We asked if she would start it but she was like "12 pages?" I can read that by Friday!" Things are looking really good! 

Today for p-day we watched Rogue One and played some soccer! Rogue One was a lot more intense than I thought it would be!!! And the ending had everyone going crazy! 

Anyway, I'm going to let this letter be a little shorter this time because I have some other friends to write while we chat.

Love you all. Have a great week!

-Elder Sierra 

AN UNEXPECTED BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

May 24, 2017May 24, 2017

So today was pretty awesome!!!

First off though, the package was SUPER awesome! And I loved all the stuff you guys put in there and it was ingenious! I gotta go on a hunt for some 100% pineapple juice, but when I get it we're gonna go so ham on the Piña Coladas!  [Mom sent him Coco Lopez so he could make virgin piña coladas for his birthday.]

The scripture case is actually really amazing because it's really easy to carry so I've been using that now and I'm going to leave the other one I have here to be a seveanuer (recuerdo), perdóname el inglés)  [ So, none of that is English but he's saying: a souvenir, recuerdo is souvenir in Spanish, and 'forgive my English' in Spanish.  #9monthsinChile  #teachinghaitiansandchileans #doesn'tknowhe'snotspeakingenglish! ]

Also those hydration stiks are AWESOME. My comp and I LOVE them and it's ridiculous how much it really helps us drink water!!! Also, I don't know if I mentioned this but his parents are going to send me a Brazilian [soccer] jersey! They asked me during his call if I wanted one and I was like "...YEAH" so it'll be coming this transfer I think. 

Anyway, the plan [for my birthday] was to go to Carlos' today for some chorillana and whatnot, however, he had some problem with work and had to work so he cancelled at 9:30 last night! So that was a slight bummer. My comp, though, as the baller he is, organized a surprise party for me! He told me last night that an elder that we both know was going to have to go home this week due to health problems and that he was gonna have a farewell party. He then was like "So, do you mind if we go for a little bit in the morning... I know it's your birthday so it's completely up to you. " and I was like, "Yeah, of course!" and when we got there everyone was like, "Surprise!" and I was like, "But where's Elder Moura!?"

It was a great surprise and they have it on video. I'll probably share it tonight 'cause we'll be in the chapel. 

That was mostly it this week! 

Oh yeah, and we also got Nedín to commit to a baptismal date and we feel GREAT about it! She's super awesome and when we asked her what she got out of reading 2 Nephi 32 she was like "Well... I read it a few times to get to understand it better and I think I should have Faith in Jesus Christ, abandon my sins and get baptized...." 

Needless to say, it was a good lesson! Nedín will get baptized July 18.

We can only see her on Sundays so it'll be a little bit. I'll be gone by then but will totes be coming back!

We also had a nice lesson with the Haitians brothers, Gracien and Arnoud! We watched part of Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration and they really liked it and told us walking home they were very happy! 

Him: "y-yo estoy contendo!" [not a word in Spanish]

Me: "... está contento? como feliz?" [You are content, like happy?]

Him: "Si!!! " [Yes!]

Anyway that's about all for this week! Have a great one!

-Elder Sierra

BIngham High School Madrigals singing Happy Birthday to Elder Sierra:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/my-drive

gosh dang... I don't think I've heard singing that nice in all my 10 months here!!!

WE'RE SO BUSY WE'RE FALLING BEHIND! PLUS, MY ZONE LEADER TACKLED ME ON A SWING SET BY ACCIDENT...

May 17, 2017

Hey! 

So, there's not too much report after having talked on Sunday, but I'll try! 

We're super busy with all kinds of appointments and things to do. When we try to do more planning we end up getting behind! Elder Leles and I decided to talk to our Zone leaders to see if they had any advice because they're exemplary missionaries and they suggested that we focus on inviting people to baptism in the first lesson and if they reject us (or depending on how we feel) we can leave them for a little bit while we develop the rest who really want to progress. Those guys are just gems!

For this P-day we went to climb a big hill! It's call Chena Hill and it's the only hike in our mission but it's a pretty good one! We then hung out at a neat playground and my zone leader tackled me on an innovative swing set by accident. It was recorded and made for a pretty good video! I'll share it when I get it! 

Other than that, not much else happened. I talked with Carlos and Susan and next week we'll have some chorillana at their house for my birthday and they want to ask President for permission to watch Rogue One with us. 

Various views from the hike and pictures of us climbing​: