Hey family!!!
I got some big news for this week! We had our first two baptisms yesterday!!! Their names are Luis and Luis (real inventive), but they are some of the most humble, pure people I know. it is a son and a Father. The father has a hard time understanding, as he is not the brightest bulb on the tree, but you dont have to be smart to get a testimony of the gospel. Luckily for him (or not), Luis, his 13 year old son, has a photographic memory. So that helps him out a bit. So I had the privilage of baptizing both of them. I dont know why, because I didnt really say a whole lot in the lessons, but I guess the son thought it was funny when I pretended to shoot him with my imaginary gun. It was an amazing experience, and one that I will never forget. trying to get their super long names right (luis osvalda maturana garrido) and say the prayer in Spanish was difficult for me, but I loved it so much. The smiles they had on their faces when they came out of the water made me realize why I was here. It was one of the most sacred experiences of my life to now. The funny part though was the drunk investigator that showed up. He would just stand there and stare at you, try to jump into the pictures of you and the person you are baptizing, and generally smell of a bad dumpster. But that is really besides the point.
I am having more success in the language. Saturday night, I was asked to give a talk the next day. Yeah, in Spanish. So I wrote a one page in English Saturday night, and the next morning we were off to the chapel! I got up there to the pulpit with my one page, written entirely in English, and took a deep breath. I spent the next 10 minutes saying who knows what, I dont remember. All I know is that that page shouldnt have taken that long to read, and for some reason I just translated it really fast without stopping once to think about what to say. It was strange. I guess thats what they call the gift of tongues. But my standard for the gift of tongues is pretty low right now. Basically, if I use past subjunctive in anything, I consider it a gift from God.
Thank you for all your love and support! I love you guys and pray for you every day!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Week 3 in Chile
¡Hola Amigos!
Well, its the third week in Chile, and I am doin a lot better! My companion and I are making a lot of headway with some of our investigators and I think, and Im coming along with the language pretty well. I just hope that they can continue to progress. We went on a hike up the moutains today. It was so awesome! They make me really miss the ones in Utah. Im kind of bummed that I never hiked them ever. I guess i need to put that on my TPNTDWHCH list (maybe we should shorten that to my Back To Life (BTF) list. If anyone feels like I need to do something when I get home, just let me know. Actually, let my dad know, he is the one putting this whole list together.
I got kind of scared the other day. We went to a member´s house to have lunch, and they had just had a birthday for their 2 year old kid. My companion looked at me and said: "You know, your going to be out here for as long as he´s been alive." I really hope it goes by faster than that!
But so far, I havent really been hit too hard with homesickness. Yeah, its bad sometimes, but really, I think that if I was anywhere else right now, I wouldnt be nearly as happy as I am now.
Spanish is progressing poco por poco. Im just having a hard time right now being able to understand the order of the words in the sentences. I can pretty much pick out 50% of the vocabulary at this point, but understanding what goes where is still kind of tripping me up. Other than that not much has been going on. We had Communist day on the 11th. I thought that was kind of funny. Nothing really happened though, dont worry mom. Hopefully I will be able to start sending photos as soon as I can get my cable cord for the camera. Then you will be able to see a bunch of the photos that I have taken so far. Unfortunately, I cant take too many, because taking out my camera would be a big risk of getting it stolen by some flighte kids. haha, I dont know. Maybe I´ll have to take more.
Alright, I am SUPER hambre, so im goin and getting something to eat. Thanks everybody for the letters! I am really enjoying reading what you guys have been up to and what is going on in your lives. Take it easy and I´ll talk to you all again soon.
¡Chao!
Love,
Elder Westover
Well, its the third week in Chile, and I am doin a lot better! My companion and I are making a lot of headway with some of our investigators and I think, and Im coming along with the language pretty well. I just hope that they can continue to progress. We went on a hike up the moutains today. It was so awesome! They make me really miss the ones in Utah. Im kind of bummed that I never hiked them ever. I guess i need to put that on my TPNTDWHCH list (maybe we should shorten that to my Back To Life (BTF) list. If anyone feels like I need to do something when I get home, just let me know. Actually, let my dad know, he is the one putting this whole list together.
I got kind of scared the other day. We went to a member´s house to have lunch, and they had just had a birthday for their 2 year old kid. My companion looked at me and said: "You know, your going to be out here for as long as he´s been alive." I really hope it goes by faster than that!
But so far, I havent really been hit too hard with homesickness. Yeah, its bad sometimes, but really, I think that if I was anywhere else right now, I wouldnt be nearly as happy as I am now.
Spanish is progressing poco por poco. Im just having a hard time right now being able to understand the order of the words in the sentences. I can pretty much pick out 50% of the vocabulary at this point, but understanding what goes where is still kind of tripping me up. Other than that not much has been going on. We had Communist day on the 11th. I thought that was kind of funny. Nothing really happened though, dont worry mom. Hopefully I will be able to start sending photos as soon as I can get my cable cord for the camera. Then you will be able to see a bunch of the photos that I have taken so far. Unfortunately, I cant take too many, because taking out my camera would be a big risk of getting it stolen by some flighte kids. haha, I dont know. Maybe I´ll have to take more.
Alright, I am SUPER hambre, so im goin and getting something to eat. Thanks everybody for the letters! I am really enjoying reading what you guys have been up to and what is going on in your lives. Take it easy and I´ll talk to you all again soon.
¡Chao!
Love,
Elder Westover
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Hola from Chile
[Sept 7, 2009]
¡Hola from Chile!
I'm over in rainy rainy Chile right now, and I'm loving it and hating it at the same time. haha, more loving it than anything though. It has been raining for about 3 or 4 days now, and I think its about to let up. The gutters are filled with water because the sewer system are not real great, and the city put out little walkways for people crossing the street to get over the water. Its pretty ridiculous, actually. Jeffrey would love it over here. There are some HUGE puddles to jump in.
Well, this has been the first coherent week for me, really. My area, called El Parque, is great! It has a pretty widespread diversity, economically. But compared to American standards, it still doesn't compare. They would probably all be in the lower bracket of the middle class, for the most part. Everyone´s roof is leaking, because they are all made of tin. No one has central heating and it can get pretty cold during lessons sometimes. But I'm not really complaining. I'm loving it for the most part.
The main problem for me right now has been the language. I'm having a hard time helping people with their doubts and concerns, when it sounds like their speaking Japanese sometimes. Well, its not that bad, but sometimes it is. A lot of people in the last generation forgot about dental hygiene, so they are all missing like 20 teeth. So when they talk, a lot of the letters kind of slip out the gap in their teeth. I am understanding a lot more, but it continues to baffle me how im ever going to fully understand this language. In terms of understanding, I probably am catching 30-40% of what they say, and speaking, I can still only say like 20% of what I want to convey. But its okay, because the lord works through me, and even if I don't have confidence in myself, I have confidence in Him.
Yesterday my companion and I were knocking some doors in the lovely rain, and I turned to the other side of the street that we already knocked, and decided to be weird and knock anyway. (Oh yeah, a side note: we dont ever really knock doors, we yell from the gate "Alo!") So I shouted from the gate, and we got no answer. But we weren't real worried, because it takes Chileans about 15 minutes to get from wherever they are to the door. So we yelled again, and finally decided to move on to an investigators house. Right when we decided to move on, an old lady walked up the street and came to the house. We asked her if she lived there, and she replied that she did. Immediately she invited us in. We then taught her a wonderful 1st lesson, and she agreed to be baptized. haha, no, not really. That would have been cool. We did get in, but she was super super catholic. I don't know why we were supposed to go to that house, but we were. It was pretty cool just because when we knock, we really don't get into any houses. I don't know who told me about Latin American hospitality, but they must not have gone to Chile. The people are nice for the most part, but we have only gotten into like 3 or 4 houses this week from knocking on doors.
Other than that, we basically go off of references that we get from members and less actives. I love going to their houses though, the less actives. They let you in, AND they´re crazy. We stopped by Victor, a less active member who has a problem with the word of Wisdom. We couldn't tell at first, but about the time he started pulling out all his belongings and showing them to us, we realized that we was pretty drunk off his butt. It got really exciting when he showed us his night stick and knives and tried to demonstrate how to fight with them in a 15 by 10 foot room. Yeah, i wont go into details to save mom from some more grey hairs (I know they´re there mom, I´ve seen them... haha)
That's about all I have for right now. I hope everyone is doing well, and no one is worrying too much about me. I'm doing fine. I have the Lord with me wherever I go. That's better than anything I could ever ask for. Thank you for all of your prayers! I have been greatly blessed because of them. Love you all!
Elder Westover
¡Hola from Chile!
I'm over in rainy rainy Chile right now, and I'm loving it and hating it at the same time. haha, more loving it than anything though. It has been raining for about 3 or 4 days now, and I think its about to let up. The gutters are filled with water because the sewer system are not real great, and the city put out little walkways for people crossing the street to get over the water. Its pretty ridiculous, actually. Jeffrey would love it over here. There are some HUGE puddles to jump in.
Well, this has been the first coherent week for me, really. My area, called El Parque, is great! It has a pretty widespread diversity, economically. But compared to American standards, it still doesn't compare. They would probably all be in the lower bracket of the middle class, for the most part. Everyone´s roof is leaking, because they are all made of tin. No one has central heating and it can get pretty cold during lessons sometimes. But I'm not really complaining. I'm loving it for the most part.
The main problem for me right now has been the language. I'm having a hard time helping people with their doubts and concerns, when it sounds like their speaking Japanese sometimes. Well, its not that bad, but sometimes it is. A lot of people in the last generation forgot about dental hygiene, so they are all missing like 20 teeth. So when they talk, a lot of the letters kind of slip out the gap in their teeth. I am understanding a lot more, but it continues to baffle me how im ever going to fully understand this language. In terms of understanding, I probably am catching 30-40% of what they say, and speaking, I can still only say like 20% of what I want to convey. But its okay, because the lord works through me, and even if I don't have confidence in myself, I have confidence in Him.
Yesterday my companion and I were knocking some doors in the lovely rain, and I turned to the other side of the street that we already knocked, and decided to be weird and knock anyway. (Oh yeah, a side note: we dont ever really knock doors, we yell from the gate "Alo!") So I shouted from the gate, and we got no answer. But we weren't real worried, because it takes Chileans about 15 minutes to get from wherever they are to the door. So we yelled again, and finally decided to move on to an investigators house. Right when we decided to move on, an old lady walked up the street and came to the house. We asked her if she lived there, and she replied that she did. Immediately she invited us in. We then taught her a wonderful 1st lesson, and she agreed to be baptized. haha, no, not really. That would have been cool. We did get in, but she was super super catholic. I don't know why we were supposed to go to that house, but we were. It was pretty cool just because when we knock, we really don't get into any houses. I don't know who told me about Latin American hospitality, but they must not have gone to Chile. The people are nice for the most part, but we have only gotten into like 3 or 4 houses this week from knocking on doors.
Other than that, we basically go off of references that we get from members and less actives. I love going to their houses though, the less actives. They let you in, AND they´re crazy. We stopped by Victor, a less active member who has a problem with the word of Wisdom. We couldn't tell at first, but about the time he started pulling out all his belongings and showing them to us, we realized that we was pretty drunk off his butt. It got really exciting when he showed us his night stick and knives and tried to demonstrate how to fight with them in a 15 by 10 foot room. Yeah, i wont go into details to save mom from some more grey hairs (I know they´re there mom, I´ve seen them... haha)
That's about all I have for right now. I hope everyone is doing well, and no one is worrying too much about me. I'm doing fine. I have the Lord with me wherever I go. That's better than anything I could ever ask for. Thank you for all of your prayers! I have been greatly blessed because of them. Love you all!
Elder Westover
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