Sept 13, 2010

The foto is of my zone.

 

Answers to some questions.

Which area was it hardest to leave - Chillan or Tome?
I don't know what was harder. I honestly couldn't tell you. I love the way the people in Tome are. I love how loving they are. I also loved Chillan. I loved that sector. I can't give you an answer :)

What has been your biggest surprise about Chile?
How American it is.

What is your favorite scripture and has it changed from the beginning of your mission?
I can't pick a favorite scripture... One that always comes to my mind 'If you love me, keep my commandments'.... Elder Law always talked about that one. Wow, Elder Law is such a neat guy. Such a great missionary. I hope you meet him soon.

Are you compiling recipes so you can cook us a good Chilean meal some day?
Honestly... no... I might have just forgotten everything, but I swear a lot of the food is the same as the states... ha ha I just asked my companion and elder nelson if the food here is like the food in the states. They jumped all over me. NO. They said no its not. They then said Chilean food is like poorly made American food... don't worry, Ill get some recipes.

Ok... so some things that I just have to tell you. Mom, you are so cool. I was sitting in lunch yesterday eating a big salad when the the song LET IT BE came on the radio. Now, as missionaries, we don't listen to music, but the mom of this family was listening to it in the kitchen, and she cranked the volume. All I could think about was being with you, mom, with you driving way too fast, and the classic rock just playing and us just singing. You don't know how much I love you.

 Yesterday we spent the entire day in the sector of Piduco. That is the sector of Elder Pierce and Elder Kuykendall. We worked all of the afternoon with them. We were knocking doors in a very nice neighborhood and entered into a house and taught a man named Victor. He is such a neat guy. We could tell he had been having a hard time. He had some great questions about God. We taught a neat lesson. We taught about the power and gift of the Holy Ghost and what he needed to do to get it in his life. We testified that Jesus Christ gave his life to give him the chance to repent and be baptized for the remission of his sins. He talked about how little faith he has in Christ - how his faith has died. We taught him what he would need to do to increase his faith, and we taught him to pray. We then invited him to say a prayer. We knelt down and he said a prayer. I remember asking him what he felt. He said 'I have felt two things. I have felt a peace enter into me, but I also feel pain for all of the sins I have committed.' After his prayer, he stood up and he said ' its something so simple, but it helps so much.'

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is our Lord and God. I believe that as we gain more faith in him and as we understand what he did for us and why he did it, sin becomes something that disgusts us. He has the power to forgive us of our sins, but he also has the power to change the deepest desires of our hearts, so we no longer have the desire to sin. We just have to let him.
I feel like I have gained a greater testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I have been able to recognize what he has done in my life. I believe in Him. I love the line of the hymn.... 'I believe in Christ, so come what may.' Lets remember that always.

Love you all
Elder Pitcher

Sept 7, 2010

Hey everybody.
It's a beautiful day here in Talca. We got up early and went to the church to check out the cambios and let our zones know what was happening. I made it through the cambio. We were all pretty nervous because I actually could have left, but now I'll be here for at least two more cambios because this is my companion's last cambio. From the church we went home and then we went to play soccer at a complex that is close by and now I'm writing you. (I'm bad at soccer)

Ok. so it was a great week. Lots of stuff, like always, but it was good.

All the way back on Tuesday we taught some good lessons and it went well. We then had a meeting (the four zone leaders of all of Talca) with the stake president. He told us about some problems the members have with missionaries and what the stake expects of us missionaries, and then we basically did the same to him. It was a great meeting. We have a great stake president, Presidente Salazar.

On Wednesday Elder Irigoyen and I took the morning to prepare a power point that we presented to all the Mission Leaders of the stake, I ended up eating lunch with Elder Irigoyen in my sector and my companion was with his companion. From there, we stayed in the mini cambio for the entire day because I had some lessons to teach with him in his sector. We then went to the stake center and presented the slideshow and tried to help everyone out. It went well... little by little we are progressing.

Thursday we were in a mini-cambio with the sector of Cancha Rayada (that means Scratched Field) because my companion had some interviews to do up there..

Friday we went to San Javier and worked with the Hermanas all day long. It was good. They are great hermanas and they teach well. At the end we were waiting for the others to meet up with us. (we went out in groups of 4, me, a priest, and 2 sisters) While we were waiting for the bus I  thought we should go back out again on Sunday and just work all day... we talked and prayed and on Saturday we told them we would be going back out the next day.

Saturday. Was another great day. In the morning we taught a less active who has basically lost his faith in God. I love him so much. He is so awesome. He was a missionary in Colombia.  We started teaching and by the end of the lesson we were just testifying of the Book of Mormon and helping him understand how it could be the pillar of his testimony. When someone says what they truly feel and know and when someone listens, with an open heart, it's amazing the power a sentence or two can have.

We taught a new convert that is 16 years old. He was baptized 2 weeks before I got here. He has been passing through some hard times and at the end of the lesson he said. 'How can I forgive someone that has done something bad to me?' It was such a strong question. He went on saying how he could find the strength in him to forgive this person.... The Spirit directed by mind instantly to the Atonement. We talked and we read...

9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

We talked about what happened before His crucifixion, and what it must have been like being nailed to the cross. We asked him if he remembered what Christ said while He was on the cross. Half smiling, with a few small tears filling his eyes he said ' I remember, Forgive them father, for they know not what they do'
I don't know how He did it. He was beaten physically, He was mocked and humiliated mentally, but He never got mad at those  that did Him wrong. He just loved them. He loved them and He did not hold any anger against them. When we believe that someone has done us wrong in our live, I hope we look to the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope we realize that it is just an opportunity to forgive, and become a little more like Him.

It hit me evening harder this week how lucky I am to be here. How lucky I am to have all my time to dedicate to the Lord. This week I had the strong feeling that I know I am supposed to be here in Chile building up the Kingdom of our God. In this specific part. I know it. It will be a life- long goal to help build up the church here in Chile, but not only here in Chile, but everywhere.

I would invite you to read this talk Bruce R McKonkie - Obedience, Consecration and Sacrifice

I love you all so much.
Elder Pitcher

Aug 16, 2010

Hey... thanks so much for the letters. Everyone sounds great.

We are coming out of Winter. It really has been very, very nice here. I actually have sweat a little during the day, but at night its colder. The good thing is that it hasn't rained since I got here.

Vincent Ing is so awesome. I love that guy so much. man, I still remember where I was fishing and the moment that he called me and said that he was going to Texas mission... viet speaking... wow I miss him.

Lots of things happened this week.... Tuesday the president was here in the morning and came to the first part of our zone meeting. It was pretty neat to have him there. Every Tuesday we meet as zones (16 missionaries). What happens is we all meet together and my companion and I say some things then we split and the district leaders take their district and teach a little class. As missionaries, we are trying to teach better. When I was in the MTC, I heard Elder Holland say 'Missionaries don't know how to teach'.  I didn't believe that at the time, but here in the mission I affirm that it is true. Because we do not teach well as missionaries, the First Presidency gave us the new simplified stuff. To try and help the zone, my companion and I talked about three things we can always do so the spirit guides us throughout the lesson.

1 - Listen attentively

2 - Look the investigator in the eyes
3 - Give room for silence.

It's incredible how the spirit will tell you what to say after you have listened and while there is silence. We talked a little about these 3 things and then the president started to talk and he just took off from there. It was neat because we didn't have any clue what he wanted to say, but it was cool that we were able to talk about the same things.

Then on Friday the president was here again. He was coming back from Santiago I believe, and he wanted the leaders of the two zones of Talca to meet for a quick little meeting. There we talked about some things, but he gave us some news that hit me like a ton of bricks. Elder Law is going home. I couldn't believe it. I just put my head down and started to cry. He has some health problems so he is going home today.  Elder Law is incredible. I love him. I loved being in the MTC with him. He was an incredible missionary. He was so prepared going into the MTC, I learned so much from him. He was an incredible missionary here. I don't know why the Lord has giving me the chance to keep serving Him here as a missionary, but I am so grateful for it. I LOVE being here. I love being a missionary.

On Saturday, we went to the first counselor in the stake presidency`s house.  He has built a new house about 2 miles out of town. I know that sounds really weird, two miles out of town is nothing in the states, but here it is. That's a picture of us.

Our investigators right now - Danilo 22, Veronica and Karen (a mom and daughter),  Kathy, Kathy, Kevin, Richard (mom, daughter, son, son). Kathy and her family are great. We had a strong lesson with them about tithing. After the first lesson, they wanted to get baptized, but then someone told them about how much you have to pay the church in tithing and all that, and basically warped the truth. We went there with a couple that was baptized 2 years ago that has a strong testimony about tithing.  We explained to them what it is, and we let the members share their experiences, it was special. Also, we taught a guy yesterday named Osvaldo and his daughter, Camila. (wife was sick) It was the second time we had been inside the house, but the first lesson. By the end, he was very excited about baptism. The daughter wasn't, but we will see what happens.  I hope they progress, it is a family I will fall in love with. Danilo is doing great. He is living all the commandments we have taught him, but we believe he has a really big barrier with his family. He doesn't live with his family, but we believe there is a lot of opposition there. We had a good lesson with him on Saturday. Actually it was a very powerful lesson. We talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the Gospel. I know that Jesus is waiting for Danilo. The thing is, I know that Christ knows Danilo. Jesus Christ knows us. It is something that I cannot comprehend or understand, but I know it's true. He knows us, and like the scriptures say, he invites us to come unto him. He is waiting for us with arms wide open. We just have to do our part. I love being His missionary. I love helping people enjoy of the blessings of His atonement. Not only does He have the power to forgive us, but He truly has the power to change us. I know that He has the power to perfect us. I know that through Christ we can overcome the desires to sin, and He will change us so that we no longer have the desire to sin. I believe that is an absolute miracle. I love the invitation Moroni gives us at the end of the Book of Mormon.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy without spot.

I love you guys.

Aug. 9, 2010.

I love when You give me questions like this.

How is Talca?
Talca is great, I love it. I love where I am living, I love everything about it. We actually don't live in our sector, we live in the sector of the other zone leaders. I really, really like them.

How are your new responsibilities going?
The new responsibilities are fine. I really like being a zone leader. They are going great.

Sister Pierce said that you and Elder Pierce finally saw each other. How was that?
Yes... Elder Pierce is actually in my zone. We did a mini-cambio on Thursday and I was over in their sector with Elder Pierce to check up on some investigators and stuff. I will actually be over there again this week to do interviews.

Where is Tanner now?
Where Is Elder Christenson? Well, at this moment he is about 8 feet away from me. He came down here to Talca today to do some legal stuff. He is in the zone of Curico. It was nice to see him.

How do you like the rain pants? Tell me the truth.
They weren't what I thought they were going to be, but yes I like them. The thing is, it doesn't rain that much here in Talca ha ha ha but I have heard that when it rains it rains very very hard.

How much are you able to teach in your area? Are you going on a lot of mini-cambios?
Yes, we teach, but we also do a lot of mini cambios. For example, yesterday, I didn't do anything in our sector because right after church we did a change with the other zone leaders. My companion went with Elder Echeverria and did some stuff and Elder Irigoyen and I went to San Javier, the sector of the Hermanas in my zone. We had to do some interviews. It was pretty awesome. We ended up getting home very, very late actually.
I love teaching, and I love doing interviews. Yesterday it was great. We were with the hermanas and we went to the house of a girl that needed an interview and so i did it. We then went to Mario and MariaInes. They are an older couple and we had a good lesson. It was very neat because when we entered in Elder Irigoyen said "can we sing?" and the hermanas said yea we actually usually sing, and so we sang 'Conmigo Quedate Senor' or 'Abide with me tis eventide' and it was pretty powerful.  Then we started to teach. It was very neat because Elder Irigoyen and I were able to explain some things and answer some questions that they had. It was a very spiritual lesson. Then we went to Guillermo and Maria Ines. We entered in and we split up. I went with the dad and Elder Irigoyen went with the wife. I had a long interview with him, it really wasn't an interview because he isn't ready for baptism. But we talked and I taught for over an hour.  It was a neat experience, but I wish I would have relied on the spirit more... When I do another interview with him I will be sure to rely more on the spirit. Elder Irigoyen had a great interview with the wife. He said one of the most spiritual of the mission. Afterward the dad took us in his car to where the bus was because it was very late.   Everything that happened out there was good.
We are honestly always going to other sectors, doing mini-cambios and doing interviews, but I love it. We are still expected to have a normal sector for us. We have a couple really good investigators right now, Danilo is ready to be baptized this next week. He is 22 and I love him.  Also in the evening we have a meeting with The first counselor in the stake presidency to talk about the mission work here in Talca.

What ward are you in?

I am in Calle Larga ward. o sea... Long Street.

I really love the mission. I know this letter was kind of dumb, but I really don't have time today. There are some things we need to send to Concepcion but we left them in the house and so we have got to get going. I love you all so so much. 

Photos from last week

Church in Talca

Bus Station

Plaza in Tome

President Navarro and family